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uJ^I^ THE LIFE 



Ulysses S. Grant 



Lm^ 4 ik |pi«is of tlii^ |mtiia |lal(is. 



By CHARLES A. DANA, 

LATE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR; 
AND 

J. H. WILSON, 

BKEVET MAJOR-GENERAL 0. S. A. 



PUBLISHED BY 




Gurdon Bill & Company, Springfield, Mass. 

H. C. Johnson, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Charles Bill, Chicago, lU- 



18 6 8. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 

GURDON BILL & CO., 

lu the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 



8PBINOFIELD, MASS. : 

SAMUEL BOWLES AND COMPANT, 

ELECTROTYPERS, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 



Preface. 



When so many biographies of General Grant are an- 
nounced as about to be published or actually ready for 
delivery to purchasers, several of them by writers of ac- 
knowledged capacity and distinction, the authors of the 
present work feel that if they do not owe to the public 
an apology for their undertaking,* it is at least their duty 
to tender a frank statement of the reasons which have in- 
duced them to engage in such an enterprise. First among 
these is the fact that they have been urged to do so by 
their excellent publishers ; but this alone would not have 
been sufficient, had it not been their fortune, at various 
critical epochs of the War for the Union, to be thrown 
into the midst of decisive events, and to see with their 
own eyes, and often quite intimately, a great deal that is 
important in history. In many of these transactions, Gen- 
eral Grant bore a controlling part, so that to know the 
facts was to know the man. It is hoped that the desire 
to record this knowledge in a manner somewhat perma- 
nent, and to preserve the impressions gathered in the 
campaigns of Northern Mississippi, and of Vicksburg, the 
rescue of Chattanooga, the battles and marches of 1864 in 



iv PREFACE. 

Virginia, and the crowning events which culminated at 
Appomattox Court House in April, 1865, may of itself, 
be thought a satisfactory motive for the production of this 
volume ; but to this is to be added the wish to do justice 
as far as possible to a man, who, highly as he is admired 
by his fellow-citizens, is not yet sufficiently esteemed for 
heroic steadiness and courage, his transparent simplicity 
and honesty, and his profound and disinterested wisdom. 

Another consideration which has seemed to be of some 
weight is the fact, that most of the biographies, completed 
or projected, are either of a special nature, exclusively 
devoted to some particular portion or aspect of General 
Grant's career ; or else they are framed upon a plan of 
extensive elaboration and exceeding fulness of detail. It 
has accordingly seemed desirable that there should be a 
book of convenient compass, covering the entire ground, 
and puttmg within the reach of the people in a single 
handy volume, all the information which they naturally 
desire respecting this great soldier, sincere patriot, and 
naturally astute statesman. 

With these remarks the subject is committed to the 
candid judgment of the public. 

New York, April, 1868. 



Table of Contents. 



21 



CHAPTEK I. 
THE GRANT FAMILY. 

PAGE. 

Grant's Birth— Lineage— Parentage— Biography of his Father— Ulysses 
Declines to Eeceive any of his Father's Property— Note— The Origin of 
the Grants — Characteristics of the Clan, 17 

CHAPTER II. 

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH. 

His Christening— Boyhood— An apt Horseman— His Industry— Stories 
of his Youth— His Disposition— A Leader among his Companions- 
Fond of School— Aptitude in Mathematics— Never used Profane Lan- 
guage—Not fond of his Father's Tannery— Nomination for a Cadet- 
ship — Singular Incident concerning his Name, 

CHAPTER III. 

LIFE AT WEST POINT, 

Enters "West Point— Cadet Life— Position in his Class— Excels in Mili- 
tary Exercises — Surpasses in Horsemanship — Escapes much of the 
Hazing usually Inflicted upon new Cadets— Does not approve of Bois- 
terous Pranks common among Cadets — On Leave of Absence— Re- 
turns to West Point — Makes the usual Expeditions to Benny Havens — 
Is not Induced to taste Liquor nor Smoke— Amusements — Not Enthu- 
siastic—Submits readily to Discipline— Captain Smith— Professors- 
Course of Instruction — Class-mates — Reflections on the Education of 
West Point — Scholarship — Graduates Twenty-first in his Class, - - - - 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Appointed Brevet Second Lieutenant — The Three Months' Leave of Ab- 
sence — Reports for Duty — Regiment at Jefferson Barracks — At Natchi- 
toches, La. — Government Policy towards Texas— Duties as a Subal- 
tern—Fourth Infantry joins the Army of Observation— Promoted to 
full rank of Second Lieutenant in Seventh Infantry— Remains with his 



Vi CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Comrades of the Fourth— Participates in the Battles of Palo Alto, Resaca 
de las Palmas and Monterey— Noticeable Coolness and Gallantry- 
Characteristic Spirit of the Troops— Grant's Regiment joins Scott— At 
the Siege and Capture of Vera Cruz- Grant appointed Regimental 
Quartermaster— Goes into action with lijs Regiment— Takes gallant 
part at Cerro Gordo— At the Capture of San-Antonio and Battle of 
Churubusco — Conspicuous Bravery at El Molino del Rey— Full grade 
of First Lieutenant— At the Storming of Chapultepec— Capture of the 
City of Mexico— Breveted Captain— Summary of his Services — Married 
at St. Louis— Stationed at Sackett's Harbor and Detroit — Accompanies 
his Regiment to Cahfomia— Serves in Oregon— Promoted to be Captain 
— Resigns, and returns to St. Louis 31 

CHAPTER V. 
GRANT IN CIVIL LIFE. 

Settles upon a Farm — Anecdotes— Establishes a Real Estate Office in 
St. Louis — Position in the Custom House — Joins his Brothers in busi- 
ness at Galena — Outbreak of the Rebellion, 37 

CHAPTER yi. 

FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR. 

Grant's Political Opinions — Determined Loyalty — The President calls for 
Seventy-five thousand Men — Grant drills a Company at Galena — Takes 
it to Springfield — ^Offers his Services to the War Department — Writes 
McClellan at Cincinnati— Assists in the Organization of Illinois Troops — 
Appointed Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers — Marches his 
Command towards Quincy — Official Report of March and Services in 
Missouri — Appointed Brigadier-General— Ordered to Cairo — Polk at 
Columbus — Bragg at Bowling Green — JeflT. Thompson in South-cast 
Missouri — Capture of Paducah — Overthrow of Kentucky Neutrality — 
Exasperation of the Rebels — Grant Organizing at Cairo — Lieutenant 
Rawlins made Assistant Adjutant-General — Grant advises the Capture 
of Columbus — Battle of Fredericktown — Demonstration towards Co- 
lumbus—Battle of Belmont— Grant's Coolness — Victory — Influence 
upon the Troops, 41 

CHAPTER VII. 

FORT HENRY. 
The Rebels Concentrate at Bowling Green and Strengthen Columbus- 
Forts Donelson and Henry — Fremont Succeeded by Halleck — Grant 
Confirmed in his Command — Buell Relieves Sherman — Halleck on the 
Defensive — Grant makes a Demonstration towards Columbus — Recom- 
mends a Movement against Fort Henry — Begins the Movement — Cap- 
ture of Fort Henry— Conception of this Movement due to Grant, - - - 64 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

FORT DONELSON. 



PAGE. 



Bowling Green Evacuated— Fort Donelson Heavily Re-enforced and 
Strengthened — Grant moves upon it — Skirmishing — Investment — De- 
feat of the Gun-boats— The Rebels undertake to Cut their Way out — 
Desperate Battle — Grant arrives on the Field^Restores Order — Anec- 
dote — Renews the Battle — Smith's Successful Assault — Buckner asks 
for an Armistice — Grant Proposes to Move at once upon liis Works — 
Unconditional Surrender — Grant made Major-General — Halleck's 
Jealousy, --.... 59 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 

Fruits of the Victory at Fort Donelson— Nashville Evacuated— Johnston 
Concentrates His Army at Murfreesboro — Evacuation of Columbus — 
Grant Assumes Command of the District of West Tennessee — Sherman 
Succeeds Him at Cairo— Grant Restrained by Halleck— Rebuked and 
Relieved from Command for Going to Nashville — Charged with Lisub- 
ordination — He asks to be Relieved — Restored to Command — The 
Rebels Concentrate at Corinth — Buell ordered to Join Grantr— Grant 
takes Command at Savannah— Concentrates His Army at Pittsburg 
Landing — Strategic Considerations— Buell Slow— The Rebels Deter- 
mined to Fall upon Grant — Preliminaries to the Battle of Shiloh — Grant 
Prepared— Terrible Fighting — Details of the First Day's Operations — 
Arrival of Buell— Grant still Hopeful— The Battle Renewed next Morn- 
ing — Easy Victory — Results, &9 

CHAPTER X. 

lUKA AND CORINTH. 

Grant's Advance in Sight of Corinth— Halleck Arrives and Assumes 
Command— Tlie Troops Dispirited by His Policy— The Army Reor- 
ganized — Siege of Corinth — Grant in Unmerited Disgrace — Advises 
Halleck to Attack— Is Rebuked— Asks for Leave of Absence— Sher- 
man Counsels Him to Remain— Disastrous Results of Halleck's Pol- 
icy—Corinth Evacuated— Halleck Disperses the Army and Goes to 
Washington as General-in-Chief— Offers Command to Colonel Allen- 
Grant Restored— Battle of luka— Battle of Corinth— Grant's Order of 
Congratulation— Summary— Grant's Generalship— Buell and Rosecrans 
Rewarded for His Victories, 85 



CHAPTER XI. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. 

Grant Assumes Command of the Department of the Tennessee— Organ- 
izations and Re-equipment of Troops Perfected — Necessity of Opening 
the Mississippi River— Halleck Opposes the Schemes of McClernand — 



viii CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

McClernand ordered to Dlinois to Raise a New Army— Dispositions of 
Grant's Army— Dissatisfection of the Rebel Government— Pemberton 
Assigned to Command of tlie Department of Mississippi— Grant on the 
Move— Skirmishing— Pemberton Abandons his Camp near Abbeville — 
Movements in Northern Mississippi— McClernand's Expedition— Orders 
Directing Sherman to Move against Vicksburg — Colonel Murphy Sur- 
renders Holly Springs — Army Encamped on the North Side of the Tal- 
lahatchie— Half Rations— System of Foraging- Specimen Christmas 
Dinner — Grant's Order Dividing his Command into Corps — Estab- 
lishes his Head-Quarters at Memphis — His Confidence in Sherman's 
Generalship — Sherman's Operations — Demonstrations against Haines's 
Bluff — McClernand Captures Arkansas Post — McClernand's Insubordi- 
nation — Grant's Magnanimity — Grant at Young's Point — Advises the 
Government to Unite the Military Departments in the West, 93 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE REBEL STRONGHOLD ON THE MISSISSIPPI 

Site of Vicksburg — Difficult Approaches — Natural Defenses — Troops Ar- 
rive at Milliken's Bend — Failure of the Canal — Yazoo Pass Expedi- 
tion — Steele's Bayou Expedition — Concentration of the Army at Milli- 
ken's Bend, --- 104 

CHAPTEE XIII. 

PORT GIBSON AND GRAND GULF. 

McClernand and McPherson March to New Carthage — Admiral Porter 
with the Iron-Clads and Transports Runs by the Batteries — Description 
of the Scene — Supplies Arriving — Naval Fight at Grand Gulf — The 
Gun-boats and Transports run Batteries at Grand Gulf — Troops Cross 
the River at Bruinsburg — McClernand Encounters the Enemy — Battle 
of Port Gibson— The Rebels Defeated— Evacuation of Grand Gulf- 
Grant Puslies Forward — Base of Supplies at Grand Gulf — Halt for 
Supplies and Re enforcements, 110 

CHAPTER XIV. 

VICKSBURG REACHED. 

Johnston Placed in Command of Rebel Military Operations in the South- 
west — Pemberton's Generalship — Grierson's Raid— Sherman Joins the 
Army— Grant's Plan— Battle of Raymond— Capture of Jackson — Bat- 
tle of Champion's Hill — Capture of Stores and Munitions at Edwards' 
Depot— Assault and Capture of the "Works at Big Black River Bridge — 
Gallant Conduct of the Troops— Pemberton Hastens to Vicksburg — 
The Union Army Crosses the Big Black — Arrival Before Vicksburg — 
Results of the Campaign, 110 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XV. 
THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE. 

PAr.E. 

Vicksburg Invested — The Rebel Works — Position of Grant's Army — 
Johnston on the East Side of the Big Black — The First Assault — Its 
Failure — The Assault of the 22d of May — Great Bravery of the 
Troops — Incidents — Grant Determines upon a Siege — Troops Sent to 
Watch Johnston — McClernand's Order — McClernand Eeheved from his 
Command — McPherson's Mine — The Contemplated Final Assault — 
Flag of Truce — Meeting of Grant and Pemberton — Grant's Terms — 
The Surrender — Sherman on the March to Jackson — Returns to Black 
River — Rebels on the West Side of the Mississippi River — Fight at 
MiUiken's Bend — Behavior of the Colored Troops — Battle at Helena — 
The Rebels Defeated — Herron Sent to Re-enforce Banks — Port Hudson 
Surrenders on the 8th of July — Ransom at Natchez — The Results of 
the Vicksburg Campaign — Rejoicing at the North— Tlie President's 
Letter — Grant Organizing his Command^He Authorizes Furloughs — 
Public Dinner at Memphis — Grant's Letter, 127 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND. 

Situation of Affairs in the Mississippi Valley — Rosecrans at Chicka- 
mauga — Grant Ordered to Louisville — Meets Stanton at Indianapolis — 
Assigned to the Command of thfe Military Division of the Missis- 
sippi — Rosecrans Relieved by Thomas — Army of the Cumberland 
Besieged in Chattanooga — Grant Telegraphs to Thomas — Goes to 
Chattanooga — Bragg on Lookout Mountain — Precarious Situation of 
the Army of the Cumberland — Grant Equal to the Emergency — Re- 
possession of Lookout Valley— Sherman Approaching from Memphis — 
Preparations for Battle — Bragg's Message — Battle of Lookout Mount- 
ain — Battle of Chattanooga — Grant's Generalship — Note — Organization 
of United States Forces— Organization of Rebel Forces, 138 

CHAPTER XVII. 
KNOXVILLE. 

Longstreet Invades East Tennessee — Burnside Attacks him near Lou- 
don — Affairs at Campbell's Station — Cavalry Fight near Knoxville — 
Knoxville Besieged — Assault on Fort Sanders — Rebels Repulsed — 
Granger and Sherman Ordered to Knoxville — Siege Raised — Sherman 
Returns to Chattanooga — Burnside Relieved — Foster Takes Com- 
mand — Operations Suspended by Cold Weather — Rejoicing for Victory 
at Chattanooga — Congress Votes Grant a Gold Medal — Movement to 
Revive the Grade of Lieutenant-General, 153 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

PLANS FOR THE NEXT CAIVIPAIGN. 

PAGE. 

Grant Goes to Nashville to Perfect Means of Supplying the Armies — 
Ee-establishment of Railroad Lines — Goes to Knoxville — Inspects 
Cumberland Gap — Crosses the Mountains to Lexington — Hardships 
and Exposure — Returns to Nashville — Plans for Future Operations — 
Sherman's Raid to Meridian — Destruction of Railroads — Failure of 
Cavalry to Join Him — Banks not Permitted to Co-operate — Grant 
Called to Washington, 158 

CHAPTER XIX. 

GRANT IN THE CHIEF COMMAND. 

Grade of Lieutenant-General Revived — Grant Ordered to Washington — 
His Letter to Sherman and McPherson — Sherman's Reply — Advises 
Grant to Return to the West — Grant Arrives at Washington — Receives 
his Commission — The President's Speech — Grant's Reply — Visits the 
Army of the Potomac — Returns to Nashville — Assumes Command of 
the Armies of the United States — Joins the Army of the Potomac — 
Reorganization of Army and Staff— Chivalric Conduct — Reflections, - 163 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE SITUATION. 

Extracts from General Grant's Official Report — The Eastern Theater of 
Operations — Reflections — Failures of Former Commanders — Discussion 
and Comparison of the Several Plans of Campaign — Butler's and Sigel's 
Positions— Unjust Criticism— The McClellan Faction — The Champion? 
of the Cause, 170 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE WILDERNESS. 

Lee's Position at Orange Court House — Grant Decides upon his Pohcy — 
He Issues his Instructions to Meade— Meade Arranges Details — The 
Army on the Move — The Position in the Wilderness — Lee Determines 
to fall upon Grant— Warren Attacked— The Onset Broken— The Bulk 
of the Rebel Army in Front — The Engagement at Parker's Store — 
Wilson Encounters Stuart's Cavalry— Burnside Takes Position— The 
Contending Armies — A Remarkable Field— No Rule of Modern War- 
fare Applicable— Grant Decides to be tlie Attacking Party— Lee also 
Resolute— Tlie Union Army Moves to the Attack— The Battle of the 
Wilderness — Desperate Fighting — Sheridan's Operations — Reflec- 
tions, 187 



CONTENTS. XI 

CHAPTER XXII. 
SPOTTSYLVANIA. 

PAGE, 

The Rebels Retire to their Fortifications— The Union Army turns To- 
wards Spottsylvania — Lee Fortifies at Spottsylvania — Sheridan in Quest 
of the Rebel Cavalry — The Positions of Grant and Lee — Death of Gen- 
eral Sedgwick — The Assault of Colonel Upton — Grant's Bulletin to the 
War Department — Continued Skirmishing — Hancock's Success — Se- 
vere Fighting — Maneuvering — Sheridan on a Raid — Destroys Rail- 
roads, Stores, Etc., 202 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

BUTLER AND HUNTER. 

Butler's Movements on the James— Defeat at Drury's Blufi"- Shut up at 
Bermuda Hundred — He Fails to Carry out a Decisive Policy— Sigel Re- 
pulsed at New Market — He Retreats — Is Relieved by Hunter — Hunter 
Assumes the Offensive — His Engagenent at Piedmont — Advance to 
Lynchburg — Retires by the Line of the Kanawha to Wheeling — Suffer- 
ing of liis Command— Stampede of Hundred-Day Men — Hunter's Mis- 
take — Sheridan Ordered Towards Charlottesville and Gordonsville, - 217 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

ON THE NORTH ANNA, 

Forward — The Union Army at the North Anna — Lee in Position — War- 
ren Crosses at Jericho — Hancock Captures County Bridge — Three 
Corps cross the River — The Rebel Position Impregnable — Preparing 
for a New Movement — Sheridan Rejoins the Army — Wilson's Demon- 
strations — New Turning Movement to the Pamunky — Details of the 
Operation — Lee's Line — Sheridan Defeats the Rebel Cavalry at Hawes' 
Shop — Grant Moves into Position — Introductory Engagements — Posi- 
tion of the Contending Armies near the Tolopotomy — The Attack — 
The Failure — Grant's Practice in Regard to Details — Observations, - - 223 

CHAPTER XXV. 

PETERSBURG. 

Grant's Plan of Operation — Sheridan Sent to Break the A^irginia Central 
Railroad, and to Join Hunter — Battle of Trevillian Station — Gilmore's 
Movement against Petersburg — Smith Sent to City Point — The Army 
of the Potomac Moves to the Left — Crosses the Chickahominy — Cav- 
alry Affliir at White Oak Swamp and Riddle's Shop — Lee Deceived — 
Pontoon Bridge across the James — Smith Sent to Capture Petersburg — 
He Carries the Outer Line of Works — Petersburg Re-enforced — Further 
Progress Impossible — The Ayny Across the James — Hancock Joins 
Smith — Renewal of the Assault— Observations and Reflections, - - - - 235 



XU CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

EARLY'S INVASION. 

PAG a 
Failure of the Movement Against Petersburg — Butler's Bridge over the 
James— Base of Supplies EstabUshed at City Point — Preliminary 
Movements in the Investment of Petersburg — Wilson's Raid— Combat 
at Nottoway Station — Fight at Sappony Church and Eeam's Station — 
Results of the Raid — The Lines before Petersburg — Rebel Sortie — 
Burnside's Mine— Joint Operations of Hancock and Sheridan at Deep 
Bottom— Explosion of the Mine — The Assault — Grant Disappointed — 
Faulty Execution of Details — Lee sends Early Against Washington — 
Sigel Retires from Martinsburg— Hunter Ordered to Harper's Ferry — 
Government Calls upon Grant to protect Washington — Sixth and Nine- 
teenth Corps Sent Forward— Battle at Monocacy Bridge— Wallace 
Retires to Baltimore— Early Moves on Washington and is Driven ofl— 
Wright Ordered to Pursue Early— Skirmish at Snicker's Ferry— Aver- 
ill Defeats the Rebel Cavalry at Winchester — Sixth and Nineteenth 
Corps Ordered to Washington— Early Again Advancing Towards the 
Potomac— Rebel Cavalry at Chambersburg, Pa.— Sheridan Ordered 
North— Grant Goes to Washington — Confers with Hunter at Mono- 
cacy Hunter's Instructions — He is Relieved by Sheridan — The Mid- 
dle Military Division Estabhshed — Sheridan Assigned to Com- 
mand, - 245 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

SHERIDAN AND EARLY. 

The New Arrangements in Military Aflairs at Washington — Sheridan 
Prepares for an Active Campaign — Joined by Torbert and Wilson — 
Early Re-enforced — Sheridan Falls Back — Merritt Attacked — Rebels 
Repulsed— Sheridan Concentrated at Halltown — The Affair at Kerney- 
ville — Grant Visits Sheridan — Instructs Him to Go In — The Battle at 
Winchester — The Engagement at Fisher's Hill — Early Retreats — Sher- 
idan Falls Back to the Lower Valley — Wilson Ordered West — The 
Rebels Routed at Tom's Creek— Sheridan's Army at Cedar Creek — He 
is Called to Washington— Early Attacks the Union Troops— His Suc- 
cess—A Critical Moment— Sheridan Rejoins His Army— He Orders an 
Advance— Determined Fighting— Rebels Defeated— The End of Early's 
Campaign — Observations, 258 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

SHERMAN. 

Grant's Efforts to Secure Harmonious Action— Canby's Command- 
Results of Consolidation— The Magnitude of Grant's Command— His 
Views in Regard to Operations West of ^e Mississippi River — His 
Interview with Sherman— Sherman Prepares for Active Operations — 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

PAGE. 

Description of the Country Between Chattanooga and Atlanta — The 
Position of the Enemy at Rocky Face— Thomas Occupies Tunnel Hill 
— Makes a Lodgment on Rocky Face Ridge — The Failure of McPher- 
son's Movement Against Resaca — Johnston Evacuates Buzzard Roost — 
The Union Army Assembles at Snake Creek Gap — Sherman Envel- 
opes the Rebel Works at Resaca — Battle of Resaca — Johnston Falls 
Back to Adairsville — Capture of Rome— Skirmish at Adairsville — John- 
ston takes Position at Cassville— Again Falls Back — Sherman Cuts 
Loose from the Railroad— Battle at New Hope Church— Capture of Al- 
latoona— Establishment of a Secondary Base of SuppUes— Sherman Re- 
enforced by Blair— Johnston Fortifies at Lost and Kenesaw Mountains — 
General Polk Killed — Sturgis' Defeat in Northern Mississippi— Battle 
at Kenesaw Mountain— Johnston Falls Back to Smyrna Camp-Meeting 
Ground — Thomas in Pursuit— Johnston Takes Position at Peach Tree 
Creek — Rousseau Interrupts Johnston's Communications — Sherman 
Again on the Ofiensive — Johnston Relieved by Hood — Johnston's Abil- 
ities, 266 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. 

Sherman Closing in upon Atlanta — The Gap in Palmer's Corps — Reek- 
less Attack of the Rebels— Repulse by Hooker's Corps — Hood Retires 
to Defenses of Atlanta — The Struggle upon Leggett Hill — The Attack 
upon McPherson — Death of McPherson— Garrard Joins Sherman — His 
Destruction of the Railroad— Howard in Command of the Army of 
the Tennessee — The Attack upon Logan's Corps — Slocum Succeeds 
Hooker — Failure of the Cavalry Expeditions — Stoneman's Surrender — 
Wheeler's Raid — Sherman Throws his Army Across the West Point 
Railroad — The Attack upon Howard — Evacuation of Atlanta — Results 
of the Campaign— Hood Falls upon Sherman's Communications — Pre- 
pares his Scheme for Invading Tennessee, 284 

CHAPTER XXX. 

MINOR MOVEMENTS. 

Forrest's Movements in Northern Mississippi — Defeat of Sturgis — A. J. 
Smith Moves Against Forrest — Battle at Tupelo — Forrest Defeated — 
Smith Withdraws to Join Sherman — Forrest again Collects his Force — 
Captures Memphis — Driven off by General Washburne — Forrest Cap- 
tures Athens, Alabama— Breaks the Railroad at Tullahoma— Forrest 
Driven Beyond the Tennessee— What Forrest Might Have Accom- 
phshed — Wilson Assigned to Command the Cavalry — He Organizes 
his Command — Price's Invasion of Missouri — A. J. Smith Sent to Mis- 
souri — Price Attacks Pilot Knob — His Movement Towards the Kansas 
Border — General Curtis Prepares to Receive him — Price Defeated at 
Big Blue River— Canby's Command— Observations, 293 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK XXXI. 

IN FRONT OF PETERSBURG. 

PAOB. 

Strengthening of the Entrenchments in Front of Petersburg — Early Ee- 
Enforced in the Valley — Unsuccessful Movements on the North Side 
of the James — Meade Extends his Left — Withdrawal of Hancock from 
the North Side — Warren's Movement Towards Petersburg— Strikes 
the Weldon Railroad, and Fortifies — Rebels Attack Warren's Left — 
The Affair at Ream's Station — Operations of the Rebel Cavalry — 
Movements of the Army of the James, under Ord— Capture of Forts 
Harrison and Morris — Birney Captures New Market Heights — Another 
Movement for the Extension of the Union Left — Its Failure — Observa- 
tions — A Period of Inactivity — Another Movement Against the South- 
side Railroad— Humphreys Marches upon the Rebel Right — Rebels 
Attack Crawford — Humphreys Entrenched — Repels the Enemy's At- 
tacks — Grant Abandons his Effort to Reach the Southside Raibroad — 
His Future Policy, ■- 299 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 

The March to the Sea— Its Origin— Hood's Movement North of At- 
lanta — Grant Suspects liis Intentions — His Confidence in Sherman's 
Dispositions — Jeff. Davis' Visit to Georgia — His Speech — Hood 
Marches Northward — Tears up the Railroad at Big Shanty — Sherman 
Pushes After Hood— The Attack upon AUatoona— Sherman Threatens 
the Enemy's Rear— Hood Captures the Garrison at Dalton— Howard 
Attacks Hood at Snake Creek— Wilson Sent to Nashville— Details- 
Sherman Concentrates at Atlanta — Expulsion of the Inhabitants — De- 
struction of the Town— Forward to the Sea— Order of the March- 
Foraging — Georgia Militia — Kilpatrick's Dash on Macon — Skirmish at 
Gordon— Engagement with Wheeler's Cavalry— The Arrival Before 
Savannah — Preparations for its Investment — Capture of Fort McAllis- 
ter—Sherman Meets Admiral Dahlgren— Evacuation of Savannah- 
Sherman Announces his Success to the President— The Significance 
of Sherman's March— The Rebel Mistake— Johnston Reinstated, - - - 312 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THOMAS IN TENNESSEE. 
Rebel Policy of Invasion— Beauregard sent West— He Reorganizes and 
Equips the Rebel Troops at Corinth— Thomas Concentrates— Forrest's 
Operations in West Tennessee— The Capture of Johnsonville— Scho- 
field Sent to Pulaski— Hood Pushes Northward— Rebels Repulsed at 
Spring Hill— Cheatham Attacks Stanley— Schofield Concentrates at 
Franklin— Tiie Position of the Two Armies— The Attack— A Fierce 
but Successful Struggle— Schofield Falls Back to the Fortifications 
Around Nashville— Wilson Prepares his Cavalry— Grant's Anxiety- 
Thomas Confident— Plan of Attack— The Battle of Nashville— The 



CONTENTS. XV 

PAGE. 

Eebels Defeated— The Pursuit— The Raid from Memphis— Stoneman's 
Movements — Results, 321 

CHAPTEK XXXIV. 

NORTH CAROLINA-CAPTURE OF JEFF. DAVIS. 

Expedition Against Wilmington— SaiUng of the Fleet— the Arrival at the 
Rendezvous— Explosion of the Hulk— Butler Thinks the Works Too 
Strong— Grant Decides to Make a New Attempt— General Terry As- 
signed to Command— The Attack upon Fort Fisher— Gallantry of Sail- 
ors and Soldiers— Arrival of General Schofield— The Department of 
North Carolina— Sherman Marches Northward— The Destruction of 
Columbia— Hampton's Criminality— The Enemy Concentrated under 
Johnston— Fight Near Bentonsville— Junction of Sherman and Seho- 
field at Goldsboro— Stoneman's Movements— Wilson Begins an Active 
Campaign — Capture of Selma — The Armistice — Captuie of Jeff. 
Davis— Canby's Movements— Campaign Against Mobile, 337 

CHAPTER XXXY. 

THE END OF THE WAR. 

Situation in Front of Petersburg— The Army of the Potomac to Accom- 
plish its Own Task— Mr. Lincoln's Views— Grant's Instructions to 
Sheridan— Sheridan Moves from Winchester— Defeat of Early— Sheri- 
dan at the Wliite House— He Joins Grant— Grant's Apprehensions for 
Sherman — Review of Operations— The Finale Approaching— The 
Orders for the General Movement— Plans of Operations— Lee's Sortie 
against Grant's Right— Lee's Plan Foiled— Preliminaries— Battle of Five 
Forks— Sheridan's Success— Rejoicings in the Army— Lee Decides 
to Abandon Richmond and Petersburg— Jeff. Davis Prepares for Flight 
—The Overwhelming Assault— A Fierce Struggle — Lee Abandons 
Petersburg— Grant's Army in Pursuit— Lee Attempts to Reach the 
Mountains— Sheridan Watchful— He Captures the Rebel Train— Lee's 
Progress Checked— Correspondence Between Grant and Lee — The 
Surrender of Lee"s Army— Its Result — Johnston's Surrender — Sheri- 
dan's Movement Towards the Mexican Frontier — Grant's Opinions in 
Regard to Mexico— Disbanding of the Volunteers— Grant Promoted to 
the FuU Grade of General, 356 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

GRANT IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 
Grant Secretary of War ad interim— Bis Previous Course on Reconstruc- 
tion —The Constitutional Amendment— The Reconstruction Acts— Se- 
lection of the Five Commanders— His Instructions to Them— His 
Reluctance to take the War Office— His Motives for Accepting it- 
Johnson's Dissimulation- Condition of the South— Removal of Sheri- 
dan—Grant's Protest— Removal of Sickles and Pope— Difficulties of 



XVI CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Grant's Position — His Great Labors and Conciliatory Spirit— Success 
of His Administration — Retrenchment and Eeform in tlie War Depart- 
ment — Great Reduction of Expenditures — Commendation of the 
President — The Annual Report of Grant as Secretary, 379 

CHAPTER XXXVIL 

THE CONTROVERSY WITH JOHNSON. 
Controversy Between President Johnson and Grant — Tenure of Office 
Act — Johnson Treats it as Valid — The Senate Refuses to Concur in 
his Suspension of Stanton— Johnson's Duplicity — Grant's Interviews 
with Him— His Alleged Promise— His Denial of it — Question of Verac- 
ity Between Tliem — Johnson's Witnesses — Their Character — Their 
Testimony —Browning's Statement — He Sustains Grant — Johnson 
Aims to Control the War Department — His Unlawful Purposes — Grant 
Explodes the Plot and Averts the Danger — His Conduct after he Left 
the War Department— The Success of Reconstruction Largely Due to 
Grant — His Course Respecting the Impeachment of Johnson — His 
Nomination for the Presidency by the two Chicago Conventions — His 
Pohtical Position, 388 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
GRANT AS A MAN AND A SOLDIER. 
Popular Misconstruction of Grant's Character and Abilities— His Pecu- 
liarities and Virtues — His Physical and Mental Endurance — Per- 
sonal Habits and Appearance— His Liberality— His Strict Regard for 
Truth — Grant as a Soldier — His Courage and Resolution — As an 
Organizer— Comparison Between the Organization of the Armies of 
the West and East— Confidence in the Patriotism and Intelligence of 
liis Soldiers and in the Ultimate Success of the War— His Estimation of 
Character in the Selection of his Subordinates— His Character for 
Generalship as Judged by Napoleon's and Marshall Marmont's Rules, - 398 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

IN CIVIL LIFE AGAIN. 
Grant as a Statesman — His Military Genius Conceded — His Civic Tal- 
ents Disputed— The True Theory— Politicians and Office-Holders not 
Necessarily Statesmen— Grant Compared with Eminent Civilians— A 
Comparison with Soldier-Statesmen, like Washington, Knox, Jackson, 
and Taylor— His Education and Mental Traits Supply the Lack of 
Experience in Civil Affairs— His Civil Services During and Since the 
War — Washington's Discipline in the Revolutionary Era— Grant's 
Discipline in tlie Late Rebellion — Such Convulsions, Preparatory 
Schools for Statesmen— Proofs of Grant's Civil and Administrative 
Abilities, and of his Capacity as a Statesman, 416 



Life of Ulysses S. Grant. 



CHAPTER I. 

grant's birth — LINEAGE — PARENTAGE — BIOGRAPHY OF HIS FATHER 
— ULYSSES DECLINES TO RECEIVE ANY OF HIS FATHER'S PROPERTY — 
NOTE — ORIGIN OF THE GRANTS — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CLAN. 

Ulysses S. Grant, was born on the 27th day of April, 
A. D., 1822, at the village of Point Pleasant, situated in Cler- 
monf County, Ohio, on the north bank of the Ohio River, 
twenty-five miles above the city of Cincinnati. He is de- 
scended from the Grants of Scotland, and possesses many of 
the characteristics of that sturdy race. 

His father, Jesse Root Grant, was born in Westmoreland 
County, Pennsylvania, on the 23d day of January, 1794, and 
is the son of Noah Grant, Jr., who was born in Connecticut, 
and served as a Lieutenant of militia at the battle of Lexing- 
ton, subsequently sharing all the dangers of the Revolutionary 
war. The father of Noah Grant, Jr., was Captain Noah 
Grant, of Windsor, (now known as Tolland,) Connecticut, 
a sturdy, robust and courageous man. 

He and his brother, Solomon Grant, seem to have been 
highly honored and respected by their neighbors. Noah 
Grant commanded a company of colonial militia, called into 
service during the French and Indian war, while Solomon 
served under him in a subordinate capacity. Both were killed 
in the battle at White Plains, fought in 1776. Nothing fur- 
ther is known of the ancestors of the family in this country, 
except that two of them, brothers, came to America early in 



18 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the eighteenth century, and one is said to have settled in 
Canada, and the other in Connecticut. 

Jesse R. Grant, whose father had removed to the North- 
West April. 1799, lost his mother when he was eleven years 
old, and at the age of sixteen was sent by his father to jNIays- 
ville, Ky., where he was regularly apprenticed to his half- 
brother, for the purpose of learning the tanners' trade. He 
served his time faithfully, became a skillful workman, and 
soon after arriving at his majority went to Ravenna, Portage 
County, p., where he began the tanning business for him- 
self. At the time his father went to that part of the North- 
Western Territory, known as Ohio, there were out a few 
weak and widely scattered settlements in all that region now 
containing a highly civilized population of over three millions. 
The adventurous pioneers, who had gone to the frontier for 
the purpose of subjugating the wilderness and making homes 
for their children, found themselves beset by many troubles, 
and continually menaced by sickness and danger. Tne In- 
dians were discontented, and, under the influence of British 
emissaries, kept the country in continual disorder. Not till 
after the peace of 1814, did it become possible for the frontier 
settlers to establish schools, or to devote themselves closely to 
agriculture and the useful arts, which necessarily preceded 
the higher refinement and civilization of the present day. 
The constant struggle which circumstances forced upon the 
family of Noah Grant precluded all idea of giving the chil- 
dren a liberal education. Jesse went to school only about five 
months, but his father being a man of culture, gave such 
attention to his instruction during childhood, as their check- 
ered and unsettled life would permit. Notwithstanding early 
disadvantages, and a life of great industry and activity, Jesse 
R. Grant has succeeded in acquiring a vast amount of inform- 
ation upon almost every subject, and is in many respects a 
remarkable man. Blessed with a strong constitution, a robust 
and stalwart body, a shrewd, penetrating and comprehensive 
judgment, and being honest, frugal. Industrious and persever- 
ing, he soon became prosperous, and gradually extended his 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 19 

business, establishing branches in various cities and towns 
throughout the West. It is not within the scope of this work 
to enter into the details of his long and successful career. Let 
it suffice to say that he is a man of strict integrity, a ready 
and effective speaker, and a pleasing writer. Having amassed 
an ample fortune, he gave up business at the age of sixty, 
leaving his sons Orville and Simpson (the latter since dead) 
to continue it. With a rare degree of liberality he subse- 
quently determined to divide his property equally among 
his children, reserving only enough to support himself and 
wife the rest of their days. Ulysses, with a liberality still 
more remarkable, declined to receive any part of his father's 
fortune, forgetful of his own industry in boyhood, modestly 
asserting that he had done nothing towards its accumulation. 

Jesse E. Grant was married at Point Pleasant, O., in 
June, 1821, to Hannah Simpson, the second daughter of John 
Simpson, a well-to-do farmer and -land owner, formerly of 
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. As the name indicates, 
she is also of Scotch origin, though at what time the family 
came to America is not known, Mrs. Grant is described by 
those who know her as a woman of great steadiness, firm- 
ness, and strength of character; an exemplary and consistent 
member of the Methodist church from her girlhood ; a faith- 
ful and devoted wife, a careful, painstaking and affectionate 
mother, and at all times and in all troubles the chief stay and 
comfort of her family. 

Mr. and Mrs. Grant, are now living at Covington, Ky., 
full of years and honor, widely respected and beloved for 
their unaffected simplicity and true worth of character. 

It Is not strange that the offspring of such parents, should 
be virtuous, honest, and truthful. But if there is anything 
good in blood or race, aided by judicious training and honor- 
able example, such a family should contain within itself a 
model of all that is excellent in woman or admirable In man. 

Note. — " Playfair's British Family Antiquity," vol. viii., states that the ori- 
gin of the Grants is somewhat doubtful, and whether they were originally 
Scotch or came from Denmark or France, cannot now be positively stated. It 



20 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

is probable, however, that they were Norman, and arrived about 1GG6 with 
William the Conqueror. It is certain that the clan had become great and 
powerful in the early days of the Scotch monarchy. Gregory Grant was 
" Sheriff Principal " of Inverness, between 1214 and 1249. John Grant com- 
manded the right wing of the Scotch army at Halidoun Hill, 1333, and was 
defeated. About 1400, the clan became divided into clan Chiaran and clan 
Allan. They held great possessions in the Strathspey country, and in the 
Jacobite troubles adhered to the Protestant and Whig cause. 

The Strathspey country, the original home of the Grants, lies in the north- 
eastern part of Scotland, along the course of the picturesque River Spey, in 
the shires of Inverness, Moray and Banff, and is remarkable for its beautiful 
scenery and noble forests of fir. 

In " Collectanea Topographica et Geneologica,' vol. vii., it is stated that 
Lieutenant General Francis Grant was buried in Hampshire, England, Decem- 
ber 2, 1781, and that his monument bears as a crest a burning mount with the 
motto : " Steadfast." In " Fairbairn's Crests of the Families of Great Britain 
and Ireland " twenty-one different crests of the Grant family are given. One 
of them represents a burning hill with four peaks, each surmounted by a 
flame, with the motto : " Stand sure : Stand fast : Craig Ellachie ! " Another 
Grant had as a crest an oak sprouting and sun shining, with the motto : " Wise 
and harmless." 

Robson's "British Herald" gives twenty -four crests ot different Grants. 
Grant of Jamaica has a burning mount — motto : " Stabit; " Grant of Grant, a 
burning mount supported by two savages — motto : Stand sure ; " Grant of 
Currimony, a demi-savage — motto : " I'll stand sure ; " and Grant of Lieth, a 
rock — motto : " Immobile." 

One of the most distinguished regiments of the British army in India dur- 
ing the Sepoy rebellion, was a Highland regiment composed almost entirely 
of Grants, bearing upon their colors the motto : " Stand fast Craig Ellachie ! " 

The reader cannot help being struck by the remarkable description of 
Grant's most noticeable peculiarities contained in the foregoing mottoes of his 
sturdy clansmen. 



CHAPTER 11. 

HIS CHRISTENING — BOYHOOD — AN APT HORSEMAN — HIS INDUSTRY- 
STORIES OF HIS YOUTH — HIS DISPOSITION — A LEADER AMONG HIS 
COMPANIONS — FOND OF SCHOOL — APTITUDE IN MATHEMATICS — 
NEVER USED PROFANE LANGUAGE — NOT FOND OF HIS FATHER'S 
TANNERY— NOMINATION FOR A CADET8HIP — SINGULAR INCIDENT 
CONCERNING HIS NAME. 

It is curiously related hj Jesse R. Grant, that soon after 
the birth of his first son, a discussion occurred in the family 
in regard to the name which should be given him. His 
mother and one of his aunts proposed Albert, in honor of 
Albert Gallatin, at that time a prominent statesman. Some 
one else proposed Theodore, and his grandfather Simpson 
suggested Hiram. His step-grandmother, represented as 
being a great student of history, and an ardent admirer of 
Ulysses, as described by Homer, proposed that name. After 
due deliberation he was christened Hiram Ulysses. 

The boyhood of Ulysses, as he was commonly called', 
passed in a comparatively new country, did not differ ma- 
terially from that of other boys surrounded by similar cir^ 
cumstances. From a series of interesting biographical papers 
by his father, written for Mr. Robert Bonner of New York, we 
learn that he began to manifest an independent, self-reliant and 
venturous disposition at a very early age, and from the time 
he was first permitted to go out alone, he lost no opportunity 
of riding and breaking horses, driving teams, and helping his 
father in Avhatever work his strength and size would enable 
him to do. At the age of seven and a half years, during his 
father's absence, he harnessed a three-year-old colt to a sled, 



22 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

and hauled brush with him for an entire day. He became 
accustomed to harness horses when he was yet so small that 
he could not put the bridle or collar on without climbing into 
the manger, nor throw the* harness over their backs without 
standing upon a half-bushel measure. Before he was ten 
years old he had got to be a skillful driver and used to do 
full work in hauling wood, carrying leather to Cincinnati and 
bringing passengers back to Georgetown, where the family 
then lived. He became a good rider at six years of age, hav- 
ing begun like most farmer boys by riding the horses to water. 
Continuous practice makes perfect in horsemanship as in other 
things, and long before Ulysses had reached his twelfth year 
he could ride horses at full speed, standing upon their backs 
and balancing himself by the bridle reins. It is told of him, 
that he succeeded in riding the trained trick pony of a circus 
company, in spite of the pony's and ringmaster's efforts to 
dismount him, aided by a monkey which fastened itself upon 
the head and shoulders of the young rider. His quiet and 
gentle disposition, together with a remarkable degree of firm- 
ness, rendered him particularly successful in controlling horses, 
and in breaking them to the saddle and harness. This he 
always did for his father, but his fame soon spread beyond the 
family circle and caused his talent to be called into requisition 
by the neighbors who had troublesome horses to break. At 
that time pacing horses were in great demand for the saddle, 
and to teach a horse this gait required no slight skill and pa- 
tience. Ulysses was quite an adept in this as in other things 
relating to horses, but from some idea of pride he would not 
exercise his skill for money, although not unwilling to do 
real work, or go on errands of business. One of his father's 
friends had a fine young horse which he wished to use as a 
riding horse, but he could not teach him to pace. Knowing 
Ulysses' unwillingness to set about such a task as this for 
hire, he engaged him to carry a letter to a neighboring town, 
and as the lad was riding away called out to him, " please 
teach that colt to pace." Ulysses returned the horse at night 
a perfect pacer, but having ascertained that the letter was 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAKT. 23 

-imply a sham, he could never afterward be induced to teach 
a horse to pace. 

Sometime after this incident occurred, his father took a 
contract to build a jail for the county in which he lived, and 
Ulysses agreed to haul the logs of which it was to be con- 
structed, on condition that his father would buy a certain large 
horse, as a mate to one he already owned. The bargain was 
made and the horse bought ; but the lad being very small, 
although then twelve years old, his father had no idea that he 
could hold out over a week at such heavy work. A man was 
hired to assist him ; but after a short time he told his employer 
that there was no use in his following the boy around any 
longer, as he was amply capable of driving and taking care of 
the team without anybody's help. After that, the boy was 
permitted to do his part of the work as agreed upon, and did 
it honestly and faithfully. One day, after hauling a load of 
logs, Ulysses unhitched his team, and said to his father that 
there was no use of his going back for another load, as the 
men were not hewing, and he could keep up with them the 
next day ; besides that, there was no one to help him load. 
" Nobody there to help load ? " said his father ; " Why, how 
did you load this morning?" " Oh, Dave and I loaded," re- 
plied the sturdy little fellow. Dave was the name of the big 
horse that he had induced his father to buy, and Ulysses and 
Dave had actually loaded the wagon with logs, any one of 
which would have been a heavy lift for twenty men. This 
difficult task was accomplished in the following way : — A 
tree had been felled, one end of which rested upon a stump, 
and the other upon the ground. Ulysses hitched his horse to 
the logs, and pulled them, one after the other, across the fal- 
len tree, till their ends were raised off the ground sufficiently 
high to permit the wagon to be backed under them. As soon 
as this was donCi, he chocked his wagon, and made the horse 
draw the logs upon it, one at a time. This seems to have re- 
moved all doubt from his father's mind in regard to his ca- 
pacity, and certainly showed a great deal of ingenuity and 
self-reliance. It is needless to say that Ulysses finished his 



24 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

part of the contract, which his father had undertaken, al- 
though it continued for over seven months. Diwing the latter 
part of this time he went to Louisville on important law busi- 
ness, which he transacted satisfactorily, although he was yet 
so young and small that the steamboat captains would not 
allow him to take passage without a passport from his father. 

At about the age of twelve, he displayed, in a remarkable 
manner, that calmness and presence of mind which has so 
eminently characterized his career as a soldier and general. 
Having been sent with a light wagon and pair of horses to 
the village of Augusta, in Kentucky, twelve miles from 
Georgetown, he permitted himself to be persuaded to remain 
all night, in order to take back two young women who could 
not be ready to start before morning. The Ohio River had 
swollen rapidly in the meantime, and the back-water in White 
Oak Creek, across which his route lay, had risen so mucli 
that when he reached it in returning, he was surprised to find, 
after the first few steps, that his horses and wagon were swim- 
ming. The young women, finding themselves in water up to 
their waists, became badly frightened, and began at once to 
cry for help. In the midst of this exciting scene, Ulysses, 
who was on the front seat, coolly guiding his horses towards 
the opposite bank, turned to the women, and with an air of 
perfect assurance, said : " Keep quiet ; I'll take you through 
safe ! " 

Although exceedingly modest and quiet, he was fond of all 
the games and sports of boyhood. His resolute spirit and 
cool temper made him a leader among his companions ; but 
his disposition inclined him to seek the society of persons older 
than himself, and this quality he is supposed to have inherited 
from his mother, of whom it is said, " she had as much the 
deportment of a woman at seven as most girls had at twenty." 
Those who have had the good fortune to know him in man- 
hood, will readily perceive that he must have been an exceed- 
ingly good-natured, amiable, patient, cheerful, modest light- 
hearted boy ; full of courage, good sense and self-reliance, 
without a particle of that disagreeable self-assertion, or ag- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 25 

gressiveness of temper which would lead him into difficulty 
with others. He could read by the time he was seven years 
old, and was fond of goinjr to school, learning easily and rap- 
idly whatever was taught, but showing particular aptitude 
in mathematics. 

He had always a peaceable, and even disposition, without 
any inclination to quarrel, and yet he would never permit 
himself to be imposed upon, neither would he stand by and 
see a little boy abused by a larger one. His sense of justice 
and fair play would always cause him to join the weaker side, 
and fight it through on that line at every hazard. His father 
bears testimony, in boyhood, to what many who served under 
and with him during the rebellion, can assert with perfect 
truthfulness ; he never used a profane or obscene word, no 
matter how great his anger or provocation. " Confound it " 
is the hardest phrase he ever gave utterance to, but this is an 
ample vehicle for his wrath, as those can attest who have 
witnessed its blighting effect upon those who have called it 
forth. 

Although a very industrious boy, he was never fond of 
working in his father's tannery ; the beam-room was particu- 
larly distasteful to him, and as he preferred to drive the team 
and do the out-door business, he generally managed to keep 
out of it. By the time he had reached his fifteenth year, he 
had fidly made up his mind, and gave his father warning that 
he would not be a tanner, but would work at the trade till 
he should become of age, though not a day longer. He ex- 
pressed a desire to have a liberal education, and to become a 
farmer, or trader to the States at the South. Fortunately for 
the country, his father did not fancy the plan of allowing his 
son to be a farmer or trader, but sagaciously suggested the 
idea of sending him to West Point. Fortunately, too, no 
great difficulty was encountered in securing a cadet's war- 
rant, through the kind offices of Senator Morris, and the 
Hon. Thomas L. Hamer. The last official act of the latter 
as member of Congress was to make the nomination of 
Ulysses S. Grant to the Secretary of War as a suitable 



26 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

person to receive the appointment of cadet at the United 
States Military Academy. 

It seems that when his father solicited his appointment as 
cadet, he designated him as Ulysses, and that the member of 
Congress who made the nomination, knowing that his moth- 
er's maiden name was Simpson, and perhaps that she had a 
son also named Simpson, sent in the name as Ulysses S. 
Grant instead of Hiram Ulysses Grant. As a matter of 
course, the cadet warrant was made out in the exact name 
of the person nominated, and although the young candidate 
might have written his true name on the register when he 
presented himself for admission, it would have probably re- 
sulted in his suspension, till the warrant of appointment could 
be corrected. Foreseeing this trouble and wishing to avoid 
it, he entered the academy as Ulysses S. Grant, and trusted 
to getting his name set right at some future day. This, how- 
ever, he did not succeed in accomplishing, but in order that 
there should be nothing lost on that score, his class-mates 
and comrades, looking about for a suitable nickname, gave 
him the familiar appellation of Sam, which was often ex- 
panded into Uncle Sam. Since arriving at the age of man- 
hood, he has not regarded the S. in his name as having any 
siernification whatever. 



CHAPTER III. 



ENTERS WEST POIXT — CADET LIFE — POSITION IN HIS CLASS — EXCELS 
IN MILITARY EXERCISES — SURPASSES IN HORSEMANSHIP — ESCAPES 
MUCH OF THE HAZING USUALLY INFLICTED UPON NEW CADETS — 
DOES NOT APPROVE OF BOISTEROUS PRANKS COMMON AMONGST 

CADETS — ON LEAVE OF ABSENCE — RETURNS TO WEST POINT 

MAKES THE USUAL EXPEDITIONS TO BENNY HAVENS' — IS NOT IN- 
DUCED TO TASTE LIQUOR NOR SMOKE — AMUSEMENTS — NOT ENTHU- 
SIASTIC — SUBMITS READILY TO DISCIPLINE — CAPTAIN SMITH — PRO- 
FESSORS — COURSE OF INSTRUCTION — CLASS-MATES — REFLECTIONS 
ON THE EDUCATION OF WEST POINT — SCHOLARSHIP — GRADUATES 
TWENTY-FIRST IN HIS CLASS. 

On the 1st day of July, 1839, Ulysses S. Grant,* then 
about seventeen years of age and slightly above five feet in 
hight, was regularly enrolled amongst the cadets at the Mili- 
tary Academy. Although his previous education had not 
been conducted with any special reference to the requirements 
of ^Yest Point, he had no difficulty in passing a searching 
preliminary examination in reading, writing, spelling and the 
ground rules of arithmetic. The battalion of cadets having 
removed from barracks to the usual summer encampment, 
young Grant soon found himself in common with his class- 
mates, rapidly inducted into all the mysteries of cadet life. 
Under the skillful hand of a third class-man, who had already 
been thoroughly, " set up as a soldier," he was rapidly taught 
the military position, squad drill, and manual of arms. Guard 
duty, field artillery, and academic exercises followed In their 
turn. Having satisfactorily passed the semi-annual January 

* There were two Grants in this class, " Grant E." and " Grant U. S." 
Tlie latter, as was stated at the close of the last chapter, was called " Uncle 
Sara," and thus distinguished from his class-mate. 



28 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

examination, whicli is usually fatal to the hopes of dull and 
incorrigible candidates, he subscribed to the oath of allegiance 
to the United States, and bound himself to serve the nation 
honestly and faithfully against all its enemies and opposers 
whatsoever. Grant did not take a high position in his class, 
except in mathematics and the kindred studies,— engineering 
and military science. He preferred to be at a safe distance 
from both head and foot, equally removed from plodding 
wearisome study, and the danger of being sent away from 
the academy. He excelled in all military exercises, and as 
might have been supposed, surpassed nearly all of his class- 
mates in horsemanship, and the cavalry drill. He had the 
good luck to escape much of the playful hazing usually in- 
flicted upon the new cadets of that day, though he doubtless 
received enough of it to give him a relish when he got to be 
a third classman for running it judiciously upon those who 
came after him. He was then as now, cheerful, amiable, 
good-natured, and tender-hearted to a degree rarely attained 
by men, and hence did not approve of nor enter into the rude 
and boisterous pranks, so commonly in vogue among cadets ; 
but in his own quiet way he doubtless got all the pleasure 
that the circumstances by which he was surrounded would 
permit. 

At the end of his second year, he was granted the usual 
furlough of two months, and, after a visit to his home, re- 
turned to his studies, with renewed vigor and determination, 
heightened by the approaching prospect of honorable gradua- 
tion, at the end of his term. 

"While at West Point he made the usual unauthorized ex- 
peditions to Benny Havens', but was never induced to taste 
liquor of any sort, nor to learn to smoke, nor to use tobacco 
in any other way. His fun was all innocent, and his amuse- 
ment only such as might have been expected to please an 
even-tempered, well-behaved, and high-minded young man. 
While, on the one hand, he was not enthusiastic in anything, 
on the other, he was always attentive to his studies, and 
prompt and faithful in the performance of his duties. He 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 29 

was never at enmity with his companion?, and had no preju- 
dices against his instructors. He submitted readily to disci- 
phne, and was never guihy of a wanton violation of regula- 
tions. 

During Grant's term of service at the Military Academy, 
Captain C. F. Smith, a gallant and highly accomplished offi- 
cer, and subsequently an able and distinguished General, was 
Commandant of cadets. The Superintendent of the academy 
and post of West Point was Major (now General) Richard 
Delafield, to whom, after Colonel Thayer of the same corps, 
the academy is more indebted, than any other man for the 
deservedly high reputation it has attained throughout the 
world. 

Mahan, Bartlett, Bailey, Church and Weir, were Professors 
in the various sciences, and discharged their duties with re- 
markable ability and fidelity. It is not too much to say that 
the academy at that day was under perfect discipline, and 
admirable administration. The course of instruction, com- 
prehending algebra, plain, spherical, descriptive, and analyt- 
ical geometry, differential and integral calculus, natural and 
experimental philosophy, mechanics, chemistry, mineralogy, 
geology, French language and literature, rhetoric, logic, 
constitutional, international and military law, ordnance and 
gunnery, architectural, industrial and topographical drawing, 
civil and military engineering, besides the practical duties of 
infantry, artillery, cavalry and engineer troops, was thoroughly 
and rigorously taught. In view of the fact that Grant had 
such men as Sherman, Thomas, Meade, Humphreys and Wil- 
liam F. Smith, for his cotemporaries, and Franklin, Ingalls, 
Reynolds, Augur, Ripley, Gardner, and others afterwards 
distinguishe(J in both the national and confederate armies, as 
class-mates, and that out of a class of over one hundred, only 
thirty-nine succeeded in graduating, it may be fairly assumed 
that his scholarship was of no mean order. It has come to 
be too much the fashion to deny the graduates of West Point 
the credit of being well educated, because they do not as a 
class excel in oratory, the intricacies of statute law, nor un- 



30 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

derstand the mazes of commercial and financial affairs. It is 
difficult to see how any man can go through with the course 
of studies indicated above, without having his mind so disci- 
plined as to render him capable of performing creditably the 
duties of any position in either civil or military life. Grant 
graduated twenty-first in his class, but could have easily taken 
a higher standing had he thought it worth the extra trouble 
it would have cost him. It is a well known fact, that it is 
not always, nor often, the head-man at West Point, nor 
the first honor man in the colleges at home or abroad, who 
carries off the first honors, or reaches the highest station in 
the ordinary pursuits of life. Occasionally a head-man, en- 
dowed with superior powers of comprehension, aided by com- 
mon sense, and the favoring circumstances of life, has reached 
like Lee and Johnston, the high places of power and com- 
mand ; but more frequently fortune has chosen for her favorite 
the Grant, Sherman, Thomas or Sheridan, of his class, who 
left the petty rivalries of school-boy days to petty minds, and 
from among the ways before him : 

— " Chose considerately 
"With a clear foresight not a blindfold courage, 
And having chosen, with steadfast mind 
Pursued his purposes." 



CHAPTER IV. 

APPOINTED BREVET SECOND LIEUTENANT THE THREE MONTHS' 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE — REPORTS FOR DUTY — REGIMENT AT JEFFER- 
SON BARRACKS— AT NATCHITOCHES, LA.— GOVERNMENT POLICY 
TOWARDS TEXAS — DUTIES AS A SUBALTERN — FOURTH INFANTRY 
JOINS THE ARMY OF OBSERVATION — PROMOTED TO FULL RANK OF 
SECOND LIEUTENANT IN SEVENTH INFANTRY — REMAINS WITH HIS 
COMRADES OF THE FOURTH — PARTICIPATES IN THE BATTLES OP 
PALO ALTO, RESACA DE LA PALMA AND MONTEREY — NOTICEABLE 
COOLNESS AND GALLANTRY — CHARACTERISTIC SPIRIT OF THE 
TROOPS — grant's REGIMENT JOINS SCOTT — AT THE SIEGE AND 
CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ— GRANT APPOINTED REGIMENTAL QUAR- 
TERMASTER — GOES INTO ACTION WITH HIS REGIMENT — TAKES 
GALLANT PART AT CERRO GORDO — AT THE CAPTURE OF SAN 
ANTONIO AND BATTLE OF CHURUBUSCO — CONSPICUOUS BRAVERY 

AT EL MOLINO DEL REY — FULL GRADE OF FIRST LIEUTENANT 

AT THE STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC — CAPTURE OF THE CITY OP 
MEXICO — BREVETED CAPTAIN — SUMMARY OP HIS SERVICES — MAR- 
RIED AT ST. LOUIS — STATIONED AT SACKETT'S HARBOR AND DE- 
TROIT — ACCOMPANIES HIS REGIMENT TO CALIFORNIA — SERVES IN 
OREGON — PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN — RESIGNS AND RETURNS TO ST. 
LOUIS. 

On the 1st of July, 1843, Grant was appointed Brevet 
Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, and tempora- 
rily assigned to duty with the Fourth Eegiment of Infantry. 
Early in November after the three months' leave of absence 
usually granted to the graduating class of cadets, which he 
spent among his friends and relatives in Ohio, he reported 
for duty with his regiment then stationed at Jefferson Bar- 
racks near St. Louis. This was the principal military station 
in the West, and contained by far the largest garrison of in- 
fantry then to be found at any post in the country. Constant 
drill and rigid discipline under experienced and excellent offi- 



82 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

cers brought the regiment to an admirable state of efficiency, 
and at the same time inspired the young officers attached to 
it with a high degree of esprit de corps. 

Early in the summer of 1844 Grant accompanied his regi- 
ment to Camp Salubrity at Natchitoches, La., whither it had 
been ordered for the purpose of being in readiness to carry 
out the policy of the Government in regard to Texas. Grant's 
duties as a subaltern here were not dissimilar from those at 
Jefferson Barracks, though the life and surroundings were 
not nearly so agreeable. It was during the year pas^sed at 
this encampment that he smoked his first cigar, and laid the 
foundation of a practice which has since become so eminently 
characteristic of him. 

In the summer of 1845 the Fourth Inftmtry joined the 
army of observation then assembling at Corpus Christi under 
Taylor, for the purpose of watching the Mexican army men- 
acing that frontier, and while Grant was one of those officers 
not quite able to perceive the justice of the Texas claim to 
the country lying beyond the Nueces, he accompanied his 
regiment and performed his duties with unswerving fidehty. 

On the 30th of September, 1845, he was promoted to the 
full rank of Second Lieutenant to fill a vacancy in the Seventh 
Infantry, but having become attached to his comrades of the 
Fourth, he made application to the War Department for per- 
mission to remain with them. This request was granted, and 
he had the good fortune to participate shortly afterwards In 
the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, on the 
8th and 9th of May, 184G. He also took part in the opera- 
tions of the army under Taylor, previous to and during the 
bloody battle of Monterey, September 23d, behaving with no- 
ticeable coolness and gallantry whenever an opportunity pre- 
sented itself. 

As these battles were fought, against greatly superior num- 
bers, by a small army, unused to warfare (except with the 
Indians,) every man and officer was called upon to do his ut- 
most, to maintain the honor of the flag. Defeat would have 
led to capture and imprisonment. Victory was an absolute 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 66 

necessity, of which every man had become convinced by the 
fate of those who had fallen into the hands of the Mexicans, 
and hence a spirit of individual prowess characterized the 
whole army. The different regiments and arms of the ser- 
vice vied with each other in deeds which transformed them 
into veterans, while officers of every grade' gained in a few 
weeks more professional experience than a lifetime of frontier 
service would have given them. 

Soon after the capture of Monterey, Grant's regiment was 
withdrawn from the army under Taylor, and was sent to join 
Scott, then assembling a large force at the Island of Lobos, 
for an attack upon Vera Cruz, preparatory to his great cam- 
paign in the interior of Mexico. Grant was, therefore, at the 
siege and capture of Vera Cruz, March 29, 1847. Having 
displayed great perseverance and activity, both there and else- 
where, he was about this time appointed Regimental Quar- 
termaster, and held the office, discharging all its duties with 
patience, regularity and efficiency, till the army was with- 
drawn from Mexico. According to the usages of the military 
service this appointment always excuses the officer holding it 
from duty with the troops ; and as the Quartermaster is re- 
quired to take charge of trains, depots and equipage, it is 
his business to remain with them while on the march ; it 
also entitles him to the privilege of doing so during actual 
battle, if he prefers it. Grant's brother officers bear witness 
to the fact, and tell it to his praise, that he never availed him- 
self of this privilege as many others had done, but made it a 
point to rejoin his regiment at the approach of every battle, 
and to stay with it till the fighting had ceased. 

Acting in accordance with this chivalrous principle, he took 
a gallant part in the two days' battle of Cerro Gordo, on the 
17th and 18th of April. After active operations were re- 
sumed, he took part in the capture of San Antonio and the 
battle of Churubusco, August 20th. At the splendid affair 
of El Molino del Key, his bravery was so conspicuous that it 
won for him shortly afterwards the brevet rank of First Lieu- 
tenant, for " distinguished and meritorious services ; " but 



34 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

having received in the meantime his promotion to the full 
grade, to fill one of the vacancies caused by the casualties of 
that battle, he declined the compliment. At the storming of 
Chapultepec, Grant volunteered with a detachment of his 
company, and assisted in the assault which carried the ene- 
my's entrenchments. During the action he took command of 
a mountain howitzer and served it with such effect as to ma- 
terially hasten the retreat of the Mexican forces. His conduct 
upon this occasion attracted the special notice and commenda- 
tion of his regimental, brigade and division commanders,* and 
following so closely upon his spirited behavior at El Molino 
del Eey secured for him the brevet of Captain. 

After the assault and capture of the city of Mexico, in 
which his bravery was again conspicuous. Grant for awhile 
became absorbed in the duties of Eeglmental Quartermaster. 
His station being in the city, he made the acquaintance of 
many of the officers of our army ; and after the declaration 
of peace organized several excursions into the neighboring 
country for the purpose of gathering information. He lost no 
ojjportunity to become acquainted with the Mexican people 
and their institutions, and is now one of their firmest friends. 
He was at this time only twenty-five years old, had served 
two years in camp and garrison under the best officers of the 
army, had accompanied Taylor in his brilliant campaign from 
Corpus Chrlsti to Monterey, and finally, in the double ca- 
pacity of staff and company officer, had shared in the labor 
and honor of Scott's memorable conquest. He took part in 
every battle of the war except Buena Vista, and by zeal, en- 
ergy and courage, distinguished himself above most of his 
companions holding the same rank. 

The careful observer of character will not fall to see in the 
foregoing narrative ample evidence of Grant's peculiar quali- 
t ties, as they were more fully developed by the events of the 
great struggle in which he became the central figure. His 
zeal, enterprise and courage, were conspicuous. His endur- 
ance, regularity, and promptitude in the performance of duty, 

* Reports of Major Francis Lee, Colonel Garland and General Worth. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 3o 

gained for him the notice of his superiors, while his modesty 
and amiability made him a general favorite, both among his 
companions, and the Mexicans with whom he came in contact. 
After the treaty of peace with Mexico, Grant accompanied 
his regiment to New York city. 

In 1848 he was married to Julia T. Dent, eldest daughter 
of Mr. Frederick Dent, a successful and widely known mer- 
chant of St. Louis, and after a short leave of absence returned 
with his wife to Sackett's Harbor, where his regiment was 
then stationed. He remained at Sackett's Harbor till 1849, 
and in September of that year he was again appointed Regi- 
mental Quartermaster, which office he held till 1853. 

lu the fall of 1849 his regiment moved to Fort Brady near 
Detroit, where it rested two years and then returned to Sack- 
ett's Harbor. In 1852 it was sent to Fort Columbus in the 
harbor of New York, preparatory to sailing for the Pacific 
coast, where a rush of emigration was then setting in toward 
the newly discovered gold-fields, and troops were needed to 
protect the growing settlements from the depredations of In- 
dians. The regiment proceeded by way of Panama, but the 
Panama railroad had not then been built, and the transit of 
the Isthmus was attended with great difficulty, and much ex- 
posure to the hurtful influences of the tropical climate. Dur- 
ing the passage, and after they had reached the Pacific side, 
many of the officers and men fell sick and died of fever and 
cholera, but Grant's rugged constitution defied the malaria, 
and enabled him to be of great assistance to his less fortunate 
companions. The cholera became so general that the regi- 
ment could not continue its voyage but was compelled to en- 
camp on one of the islands in the bay of Panama, where it 
remained for several weeks. After it reached Oregon, deci- 
mated in numbers, one battalion, including Grant's company, 
was ordered to take post at Columbia Barracks, near the 
Dalles of the Columbia River, where it remained for some 
time, making occasional expeditions against the hostile In- 
dians, in all of which Grant took an active part, adding to his 
varied experience, and gaining useful information in regard 



36 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

to the Indian character and the resources of the neighborhig 
country. In August, 1853, while on duty at Fort Vancouver 
he was promoted to the full rank of Captain, and shortly after- 
wards he was assigned to the command of Fort Humboldt, 
on the northern coast of California. He remained at the lat- 
ter place about a year, but seeing no chance of further pro- 
motion, and having nothing to compensate him for separation 
from his family, but the doubtful pleasures and uninteresting 
occupations of a nomadic life upon the frontier, he resigned 
his commission on the 31st of July, 1851, and rejoined his 
wife and children at St. Louis, from whom he had been sepa- 
rated for over two years. 



CHAPTER V. 

SETTLES UPON A FARM — ANECDOTES ESTABLISHES A REAL ESTATE 

OFFICE IN ST. LOUIS — POSITION IN THE CUSTOM HOUSE — JOINS 
HIS BROTHERS IN BUSINESS AT GALENA — OUTBREAK OF THE RE- 
BELLION. 

With no fortune of his own and with few acquaintances, 
and fewer friends in civil life, Grant was thrown at once upon 
his own resources. Without hesitation he settled upon a 
small farm near St. Louis, which had been presented to Mrs. 
Grant by her father. He threw aside completely the habits 
of army life and went to work bravely with his own hands to 
better his fortune. His first labor was to assist in hewing the 
logs, and building a house upon his farm. As soon as it was 
finished he occupied it with his family, so that he might be 
entirely independent of the world, as well as close to the 
fields he intended to cultivate. It has been said that he did 
not make a successful farmer, but that is a mistake, which 
may have arisen from the fact that his farm was small, and 
only partially ready for cultivation. Grant worked hard him- 
self and displayed excellent judgment in all that he did. To 
be sure his profits were not large, at any time, but they were 
his only dependence for the support of his family. 

He took great interest in his stock, and being really fond 
of his new occupation, he devoted himself to it with a will. 
During the winter season he employed men to clear land, and 
chop wood, and hauled it to St. Louis for sale, driving one 
team in person, while his little son drove another, thus saving 
the expense of two extra hands. He ploughed and planted 



38 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

in the spring, and when the summer had ripened his crops he 
was the foremost hand in the harvest-field. 

Several years before the war began, one of his friends, hap- 
pening to be at St. Louis, heard that Grant was living near 
by, and drove out for the purpose of seeing him. Calling at 
the house, he inquired for Captain Grant. The servant who 
answered his summons at the door informed him that the 
Captain would probably be found in the meadow, harvesting. 
The officer walked down to the field, as the servant suggested, 
but not discovering the Captain, sat down in the shade of a 
tree for the purpose of waiting for the approach of four men 
whom he saw mowing at a distance. After a short time the 
mowers came abreast of him, and going out to meet them he 
was surprised to find that the leading mower, covered with 
perspiration, and in his shirt-sleeves, was the friend for whom 
he was seeking. It has been said that " the ways by which 
men get money lead downward," and this may be true when 
applied to the tricks of special trades, or to the devices and 
uncertain calling of the gambler in stocks ; but if every man 
could be induced to get money by such an honest exhibition 
of industry, the world and our country would certainly be 
the better for it. 

Grant was economical as well as industrious, and if he 
could not make money rapidly for himself, he could tell others 
how to save it. AVhile living at his father-in-law's, he ob- 
served that all the rooms in the house were warmed by wood 
fires, in ample old-fashioned fire-places, and that it kept one 
man continually busy to cut fuel for them. Near by was a 
colliery, the owners of which were paying fifty cents apiece 
for stout saplings with which to shore up the roof of their 
mine. Grant suggested that he could cut and haul poles 
enough in one day to buy coal for an entire month, and in 
two more to pay for a grate or stove in every room. This 
was a new idea, and a few days thereafter was put into suc- 
cessful application. 

After four years of farming. Grant resolved to try some- 
thin o- else. He leased his farm, and removed to St. Louis, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 39 

where he established and conducted for a short time a real 
estate office. Shortly afterwards a situation was offered him 
in the custom-house, which he accepted and held till the death 
of the Collector brought a new man into office, who had his 
own friends to reward. Being again out of business, he 
applied for the position of city engineer, and although 
thoroughly qualified by his military education and practical 
experience to perform the duties of the office, his influence 
waci not sufficient to secure it. 

Early in 1860 he accepted a proposition from his father to 
remove to Galena, and join his brothers In the leather busi- 
ness. Devoting himself with Industry and good sense to his 
new occupation, he soon became familiar with all Its branches, 
and achieved a fair degree of success. But not being at all 
demonstrative in his manners, nor Inclined to take an active 
part in the affiiirs of the town, he made but few acquaintances, 
and those mostly among the people with whom he had busi- 
ness. A few of the best citizens had broken through his 
natural reserve, and discovered the sterling qualities of the 
man, though It is but fair to say that no one then suspected 
that the modest, quiet, and obscure- leather-dealer would ever 
become the most distinguished man of his time. 

When the rebellion was precipitated upon the country by 
the attack upon Fort Sumter, Grant had just attained his 
thirty-ninth year, and having been blessed with a strong and 
elastic constitution, an equable temper, a stout and well-set 
figure, capable of great endurance, he had passed through 
the varied experiences of his life with continually increasing 
powers. He had not reached full mental development with 
manhood, but had increased steadily in mental and moral 
stature by the trials through which he had gone, rather than 
by the years that had passed over his head. He had never 
been a great student, not even a great reader ; but having a 
remarkably retentive memory, coupled with a thorough ap- 
preciation of all that is practical and useful, he was fully able 
to grapple with whatever question might be presented for 
his consideration. He had neither whims nor hobbies, neither 



40 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

pet theories nor visionary schemes ; but was entirely free 
from prejudice of every sort, and, better than all, he had 
reached that perfection of common sense, which, combined 
with truthfulness and steadfast courage, is superior to genius. 
Plain and simple in his address, " with manners unspotted by 
the world," direct in his purposes, slow to anger, sparing of 
words in public, free from guile and shams of every sort, and 
faithful in all things, he was regarded as a true friend, a good 
citizen, and an honest man ! Adversity or prosperity, — 
whichever came, — would find him ever cheerful and ready 
for the duties of life, no matter whether they should lead him 
in the ways of peace or through the dangers and trials of 
war. 



CHAPTER YI. 

grant's political opinions — DETERMINED LOYALTY — THE PRESI- 
DENT CALLS FOR SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND MEN — GRANT DRILLS A 
COMPANY AT GALENA — TAKES IT TO SPRINGFIELD — OFFERS HIS 
SERVICES TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT — VISITS MCCLELLAN AT CIN- 
CINNATI — ASSISTS IN THE ORGANIZATION OF ILLINOIS TROOPS — AP- 
POINTED COLONEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS 

MARCHES HIS COMMAND TOWARDS QUINCY— OFFICIAL REPORT OF 
MARCH AND SERVICES IN MISSOURI — APPOINTED BRIGADIER-GEN- 
ERAL—ORDERED TO CAIRO — POLK AT COLUMBUS — BRAGG AT BOWL- 
ING GREEN — JEFF. THOMPSON IN SOUTH-EAST MISSOURI — CAPTURE 
OF PADUCAH — OVERTHROW OF KENTUCKY NEUTRALITY— EX ASPERA- 
TION OF THE REBELS — GRANT ORGANIZING AT CAIRO — LIEUTENANT 
RAWLINS MADE ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL — GRANT ADVISES 
THE CAPTURE OF COLUMBUS — BATTLE OF FREDERICKTOWN— DEM- 
ONSTRATION TOWARDS COLUMBUS — BATTLE OF BELMONT — GRANT'S 
COOLNESS — VICTORY — INFLUENCE UPON THE TROOPS. 

Grant, while living at St. Louis and Galena, took no part 
in political matters, farther then to keep himself well informed 
as an intelligent citizen should, of what was taking place 
throughout the country. Having been educated as a military 
man, and been denied the opportunity of voting during his 
service in the army, he had no bond of sympathy wuth purely 
partisan movements, and no taste for public meetings of any 
sort. From an army acquaintance with the character and real 
merits of Fremont or his real lack of merit, he was induced 
to cast his vote for Buchanan ; but before the weakness of 
the latter had actually enabled the secessionists to plunge the 
country into civil war, Grant had become convinced that 
his first and only vote had been a grevious mistake. He had 
never been a democrat but rather favored the moderate opin- 
ions of such men as Everett, Crittenden and Bell. He hoped 



42 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

that peaceful counsels would prevail, and that civil war would 
be averted, but when all the measures looking to conciliation 
had failed, he was not the man to occupy a neutral or doubt- 
ful position. Having been educated at the national expense, 
and repeatedly taken the oath to uphold and defend the Con- 
stitution of the United States against all its enemies and op- 
posers whatsoever, his duty was too plain to admit of a mo- 
ment's hesitation. Like Sherman and many other former 
officers of the army, he was inspired by an ardent and patri- 
otic loyalty and therefore determined to support his Govern- 
ment and uphold its flag at every hazard. 

Beauregard opened fire upon Fort Sumter on the 11th of 
April, 1861. Four days afterward the President issued his 
call for seventy-five thousand three months' men ; four days 
later a company was enrolled at Galena, and Grant being the 
only man in the town who knew anything whatever of mili- 
tary matters, the duty of drilling this company was naturally 
assigned to him ; still four days later, he went with it to 
Springfield, and reported to the Governor for service. 

From Springfield he addressed a letter to the Adjutant- 
General of the army, offering his services to the Government 
for whatever duty it might be thought his past experience 
would fit him, but to this letter he received no reply. About 
this time he visited his father at Covington, Ky., and while 
there he took occasion to go twice to Cincinnati, where General 
McClellan, then commanding the Ohio militia, had established 
his head-quarters, hoping that his past acquaintance with that 
General might secure for him an offer of employment. But 
in this, too, he was disappointed. 

While at Springfield waiting for an opportunity, his knowl- 
edge of military organization and the details of service en- 
abled him to become exceedingly useful in the organization 
of troops. Volunteers were pouring in from all parts of the 
State, calling for arms, clothing, camp and garrison equipage 
and instruction ; and although the Governor and his staff of 
military civilians did all in their power to meet these urgent 
demands, the confusion and disorder accompanying their 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 43 

labors were almost inextricable. The want of an experienced 
army officer was severely felt, so the Governor was compelled 
by force of circumstances rather than choice to call upon Cap- 
tain Grant, — although on account of his obscurity he had re- 
ceived him at first with decided coldness. The ordnance 
department required Grant's first attention, the adjutant- 
general's next, and in t"heir turn all the others. He had all 
the forms at his finger's ends, — knew how every paper should 
be drawn and where it should be sent. His information was 
in constant request, and when not engaged in one of the 
offices he was called upon tp assist in drilling troops. So 
thoroughly and yet so quietly did he perform the duties as- 
signed him, that before a month had expired the Governor 
had sagaciously discovered his sterling charactei'istics, and 
lost no further time in finding a place for him. 

Accordingly when the Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois 
Volunteers arrived at Springfield, in a bad state of organiza- 
tion, under an inefficient Colonel of their own choice, the 
Governor declined to commission him, but put the regiment 
under the charge of Captain Grant, and a few days thereafter, 
while Grant was absent at Covington, sent him the commis- 
sion of Colonel. Nobody was more surprised at this piece of 
good fortune than Grant himself, for with characteristic mod- 
esty he had scarcely hoped for a higher grade than that of 
Captain, and having received but little encouragement even 
in this aspiration, he had almost made up his mind to return 
to Galena. Accepting, however, the trust so fortunately con- 
fided to his care, he assumed command on the 16th of June, 
and soon had the satisfaction of seeing his regiment noted for 
its excellent discipline and proficiency in drill. In his report 
to the Adjutant General of Illinois, he says: "Being ordered 
to rendezvous the regiment at Quincy, 111., I thought, for the 
purpose of discipline and speedy efficiency for the field, it 
would be well to march the regiment across the country, in- 
stead of transporting by rail. Accordingly, on the 3d of 
July, 1861, the march was commenced from Camp Yates, 
Springfield, 111., and continued until about three miles 



44 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

beyond the Illinois River, when dispatches were received, 
changing the destination of the regiment to Ironton, Mo., and 
directing me to return to the river and take a steamer, which 
had been sent there for the purpose of transporting the regi- 
ment to St. Louis. The steamer failing to reach the point of 
embarkation, several days were here lost. In the meantime 
a portion of the Sixteenth Illinois Infantry, under Colonel 
Smith, were reported surrounded by the enemy at a point on 
the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, west of Palmyra, and 
the Twenty-first was ordered to their relief Under these cir- 
cumstances, expedition was necessary ; accordingly, the march 
was abandoned, and the railroad was called into requisition. 
Before the Twenty-first reached its new destination, the Six- 
teenth had extricated itself The Twenty-first was then kept 
on duty on the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad 
for about two weeks, without, however, meeting an enemy or 
an incident worth relating. We did make one march, how- 
ever, during that time, from Salt River, Mo., to Florida, Mo., 
and returned, in search of Tom Harris, who was reported in 
that neighborhood with a handful of rebels. It was impossi- 
ble, however, to get nearer than a day's march of him. From 
Salt River the regiment went to INIexico, Mo., where it re- 
mained for two weeks; thence to Ironton, Mo., passing 
through St. Louis on the 7th of August, when I was assigned 
to duty as a Brigadier General, and turned over the command 
of the regiment to that gallant and Christian officer, Colonel 
Alexander, who afterwards yielded up his life, whilst nobly 
leading it in the battle of Chickamauga." 

Early in August he was assigned to duty as a Brigadier 
General. His name having been suggested by the Hon. E. 
B. AVashburne, and unanimously recommended by the Con- 
gressional delegation from Illinois, the President appointed 
him to that rank to date from May 17, 1861, one month 
anterior to his appointment of Colonel by Governor Yates. 
He was immediately assigned to the command of the military 
district of Missouri, including the south-eastern part of the 
State, from which it took its name. Southern Illinois, and all 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 45 

of the territory In Western Kentucky and Tennessee, then or 
afterwards under the control of the national forces. Simul- 
taneously with this assignment he was ordered by telegraph 
to proceed to St. Louis and report in person at the head-quar- 
ters of the department. In order that no time should be lost, 
a special train was sent from St. Louis for him — but when the 
General presented himself the same day at head-quarters as 
directed, they were so surrounded by sentinels, and hedged 
about with aids-de-camp in waiting, that he was delayed over 
twenty-four hours, before he could reach the presence of 
General Fremont. Having received his instructions, on the 
1st of September, he went at once to Cairo, where he estab- 
lished his head-quarters, and assumed the command to which 
he had been assigned. 

At this time the rebels under Polk held Columbus, a strong 
point commanding the river twenty miles below Cairo, and in 
connection with Bragg, at Bowling Green, were making vig- 
orous efforts to provoke Kentucky into an abandonment of her 
assumed neutrality. They had also a force operating in 
South-eastern Missouri, under Thompson ; they controlled the 
Mississippi River throughout its length, below the mouth of the 
Ohio ; held the Tennessee and the Cumberland, and seemed 
to be looking to the control of the Ohio, by the seizure of 
Paducah and other strong points on the western border of 
Kentucky. Perceiving the true condition of affairs almost 
at a glance, and properly appreciating the strategic import- 
ance of Paducah, situated at the confluence of the Tennessee 
and Ohio Rivers, Grant determined at once to forestall the 
movement which Polk had already begun toward that point ; 
and on the 5th of September he notified his intentions to 
Fremont and the Legislature of Kentucky. On the night of 
the same day, having received no countermanding order from 
Fremont, and having made an arrangement with Commodore 
Foote for a convoy of two gun-boats, he set out with two reg- 
iments of infantry and one battery of field artillery, embarked 
upon steam transports. An accident to one of the transports 
caused a slidit detention to his flotilla. Nevertheless, it 



46 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

arrived at Paducah by half-past eight o'clock the next day. 
A small force of rebels, under General Tilghman, had reached 
there before the national troops, but fled upon their approach, 
leaving Grant to take quiet possession of the town, and the 
rebel stores already gathered there. Having disembarked 
the troops and occupied the telegraph oflfice, railroad depot, 
and marine hospital, he issued a proclamation, saying that he 
had nothing to do with opinions, and would deal only with 
armed rebellion, its aiders and abettors. The same day he 
returned to Cairo, where he found permission from Fremont 
to take Paducah, if he thought himself strong enough. But, 
in the meantime, Fremont, had sent him, by telegraph, a 
severe reprimand for corresponding with the Kentucky State 
authorities in regard to his contemplated movement, and in- 
f9rmed him that General C. F. Smith had been assigned to 
the command of Paducah, with orders to report directly to 
Fremont's head-quarters. As a matter of course. Grant's 
promptitude was an exasperating blow to the disunionists in 
Kentucky, and was severely denounced by the rebel authori- 
ties as a flagrant violation of the neutrality declared by a 
sovereign State. Its eflfect was to give the national forces 
firm control of the Ohio River, as well as of the Lower Ten- 
nessee and Cumberland. At the same time it served to 
unmask the real intention of the rebel leaders, while it 
strengthened the hands of the Union men in the Legislature 
suflficiently to enable them to carry resolutions favoring the 
Union cause, thus putting an end forever to the rebel fiction 
of Kentucky neutrality. During the next ten weeks, Grant 
was prohibited from engaging in important operations, and 
by the order of Fremont was kept in a strictly defensive 
attitude. 

A few weeks after the capture of Paducah, Smithland, at 
the mouth of the Cumberland River, was taken possession of 
by C. F. Smith, acting under special instructions from Fre- 
mont. Grant, in the meantime, was engaged in strengthen- 
ing the defenses of Cairo, and in building those at Bird's Point 
and Fort Holt. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 47 

Cairo had come to be recognized by the Government as a 
pohit of great importance. Being situated at the extreme 
southern end of Illinois, thrust in between Kentucky on the 
one hand and Missouri on the other, with ample railway com- 
munication with the north, and covered from attack by the 
Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers, it w^as early selected as a base 
of operations against the rebels in the lower Mississippi valley. 

New troops were now pouring in from all parts of the 
North-west ; and while they were filled with ardor, and in- 
spired by an exalted spirit of patriotism, they were, men and 
officers, entirely ignorant of warfare. Here and there was 
an occasional soldier who had served in the Mexican war, but 
that was a memory of the past. Officers and men alike re- 
quired instruction. The task of organizing and giving this 
instruction naturally fell to Grant, the commanding general 
of the district. At that time he had not a single trained 
soldier or officer of the regular army under his command, 
and hence he was compelled to direct everything in person. 
He was actually obliged to teach the regimental and company 
officers how to make requisitions for rations and equipage. 
McClellan and Buell had so completely monopolized the offi- 
cers of the regular army, that Grant was also forced to select 
his staff entirely from officers of the volunteer service. They 
had first to be taught their duties before they could be of any 
assistance ; so that for much of the time Grant had to act as 
adjutant-general, quartermaster, commissary, ordnance officer, 
and aid-de-camp. He was busy from morning till night, and 
frequently from night till morning, in writing orders, endors- 
ing papers, and doing the multifarious work incident to such 
a command. 

Fortunately, in this emergency, he displayed that profound 
knowledge of character for which he has since become so 
justly distinguished. Lieutenant John A. Eawlins, (now 
Brigadier-General and Chief-of-staff,) a young lawyer of tal- 
ent, with whom he had become acquainted at Galena, was 
chosen for the position of Adjutant-General, and entered upon 
the discharge of his duties with great eagerness ; bringing to 



48 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

his assistance habits of regularity and order in the transaction 
of business, a remarkably retentive memory and a powerful 
understanding. Under the instructions of his chief, he was 
not long in acquiring a thorough knowledge of administrative 
details. 

During this period of two months Grant's forces were in- 
creased to 20,000 men, from whom he organized the nucleus 
of that army with which he afterwards repossessed the entire 
valley of the Mississippi, and which throughout a career ex- 
tending to the end of the war, never met the rebels but to 
conquer them. Whilst engaged in this work he more than 
once advised the capture of Columbus, a strong point on the 
left bank of the Mississippi, twenty miles below Cairo, which 
the rebels were fortifying, and where they were gathering -a 
large and well appointed force. This position being naturally 
one of the strongest on the river, enabled the rebels to com- 
pletely bar the navigation of the stream, and to menace either 
Paducah or Cairo. By holding Belmont also, a point on the 
west bank of the river, directly under the guns of Columbus, 
they could cross troops at all times for the purpose of making 
incursions into Missouri and menacing Cape Girardeau, and 
under favorable circumstances, even St. Louis itself. As 
early as the 10th of September, Grant wrote that if he were 
permitted to use his discretion, and could have slight rein- 
forcements, he could take Columbus, but he received no reply 
to his letter. 

On the 21st of October a spirited fight took place at Fred- 
ericktown, in South-eastern Missouri, between the rebels 
under Jeff. Thompson and a detachment of Grant's command, 
sent out from Cape Girardeau, under Colonel Plummer, as- 
sisted by Hawkins' INIissouri cavalry and Colonel Carlin's 
regiment of Illinois volunteers, moving from Pilot Knob. 
The movement of the Union detachments having been well 
timed, Thompson was considerably outnumbered by the united 
force, and, although strongly posted, he was overpowered 
after two hours' severe fighting, and compelled to fly, leav- 
ing sixty killed upon the field. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 49 

On the 1st of November, Grant was directed by Fremont 
to make demonstrations toward Norfolk, Charleston, and 
Blandville, but was cautioned against bringing on an actual 
engagement. The next day Fremont informed him that a 
force of three thousand rebels had taken position on the St. 
Francis Kiver, about fifty miles south-west of Cairo, and 
ordered him to detach a force to assist a column, already 
moving from Ironton, in driving them away. In compliance 
with these instructions, Grant sent one regiment from Cape 
Girardeau, and Colonel (now Governor) Oglesby, with a 
small brigade of mixed troops from Commerce, in the direc- 
tion of Indian Ford, on the St. Francis. But the next day 
Grant was informed that Polk, at Columbus, had begun to 
send reinforcements to Price, who was at that time confront- 
ing the national forces in South-west Missouri. Fremont 
therefore ordered a demonstration towards Columbus, and 
Grant immediately sent the regiment of W. H. L. Wallace to 
reinforce Oglesby, and directed Oglesby to turn his column 
towards New Madrid,— a point on the Mississippi below Co- 
lumbus, — with instructions to communicate with him at Bel- 
mont. General C. F. Smith was requested to send out a 
force from Paducah, for the purpose of menacing Columbus 
from the rear, while two smaller detachments moved out from 
Bird's Point and Fort Holt, with the intention of giving the 
demonstration the appearance of a general movement. 

Having made these dispositions, on the evening of the 6th 
of November, Grant embarked the rest of his available force, 
consisting of five regiments of infantry, one section of artil- 
lery, and two squadrons of cavalry, — in all about thirty-one 
hundred men, — and, under the convoy of two gun-boats, began 
the demonstration towards Columbus. But having heard 
during the night that the rebels had been crossing troops from 
Columbus to Belmont, and fearing for Oglesby's safety, he at 
once decided to convert his demonstration Into an actual 
movement against the rebel camps at Belmont. This pur- 
pose was fixvored by the semblance of a landing which he ha(J 
made the night before on the Kentucky side, ten or twelve 
4 



50 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

miles below Cairo. At early dawn of the 7th the transports 
steamed down the river, and landing at Hunter's Point just 
outside the range of the heavy guns at Columbus, the troops 
were rapidly disembarked, and moved by the flank to within 
two miles of Belmont. Here they were halted long enough 
to form in order of battle, and then marched forward to the 
attack. 

The rebel camp had been established in an open field on 
the bank of the river, its front covered by a wooded slough 
running through several small lagoons, and further strength- 
ened by a line of abattis. The enemy under Colonel Tappan 
having been warned by the lookout from Columbus, were on 
the alert, and lost no time in disposing themselves to resist 
Grant's approach. General Pillow, with four regiments of 
his division, hurriedly crossed the river and took command 
of the rebels. 

The national forces moved forward to the attack as soon as 
circumstances would permit, covered by a heavy line of skir- 
mishers meeting with determined opposition at every step. 
By nine o'clock they were all engaged, except one battahon 
left to guard the transports and landing. The rebels fought 
with determination, disputing every foot of the way, and hold- 
ing to every tree till the last minute ; but after four hours' 
hard fighting, with varying fortunes. Grant's raw volunteers 
swept everything before them, — pushed the rebels beyond the 
lagoon, burst upon their camp, captured their artillery and 
equipage, and took ma"ny prisoners. During the action the 
men had behaved like veterans, but in the moment of vic- 
tory they forgot what little they had learned of military 
order. The four hours' hard work through which they had 
gone, had necessarily disorganized them considerably, and 
instead of forming again and pressing the rebels, who in the 
meantime had taken cover under the river bank, they began 
to plunder the rebel encampment and count the fruits of their 
victory. Many of the field officers carried away by enthu- 
siasm, and not realizing the dangers of their situation, wasted 
their time and breath in making speeches. But the rebels 



LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 51 

though beaten were not disheartened. General Polk, over- 
lookino- the entire scene from the heights of Columbus, had 
become thoroughly alarmed for the safety of Pillow, and 
hurried reinforcements to him as fast as possible. Three 
regiments under Colonel Marks reached him first, soon fol- 
lowed by General Cheatham's brigade, thus increasing the 
rebel force to eleven or twelve regiments,* over twice as many 
as Grant had with him. Pillow lost no time in reorganizing 
his command, or in getting it into a suitable position from 
which to assail Grant in flank and rear. In the meantime, 
the latter having observed the rebel transports crowded with 
troops crossing from Columbus, and discovered the movements 
of Pillow, saw that he had nothing left him but to withdraw 
his forces promptly to the transports. He directed the camps 
to be burned, and after much hard work, with the aid of the 
rebel guns at Columbus, he succeeded in recalling his men 
to their colors. The march in retreat was begun without 
further delay, but had hardly commenced when the combined 
rebel force was discovered between them and the transports. 
One of Grant's oflficers hurried to him with the information, 
and in an excited manner, exclaimed : " We are surrounded, 
and will have to surrender ! " "I guess not," said Grant 
with composure. " If we are surrounded we must cut our 
way out as we cut bur way in." 

"When the troops discovered that their chief was deter- 
mined to fight his way out, all hesitation was at an end. The 
attack was made with vigor, and resulted as had been ex- 
pected, — in a second defeat of the enemy. The transports 
w€re reached in due time, and the command embarked under 
cover of the gun-boats without further loss or confusion. 

The loss of the national forces in killed, wounded and 
missing, was 485 men, while that of the rebels reached 632.f 
This was the first battle of any magnitude in that theater of 
operations, and is justly claimed by Grant as a substantial 
and important victory. Officers and men had behaved with 
great gallantry. Colonel s Logan, Lauman, Dougherty, and 
* " Southern History of the War," pp. 206-8. t Ibidem, p. 209. 



52 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Fouke, and General McClemand led their men with con- 
spicuous bravery throughout the action, while Grant himself 
exhibited his usual coolness and determination. In the heat 
of the action his horse was killed under him. After the 
larger part of his command had reached the transports, he 
went out again, accompanied by an aid-de-camp for the pur- 
pose of withdrawing the battalion that had been left to cover 
the landing, and such small parties as had not yet got in, but 
had gone only a few rods when he found himself in front of 
the entire rebel line not sixty paces distant. Being dressed 
in a soldiers blouse, the rebels took no particular notice of 
him. He saw that all his stragglers had been picked up or 
cut off, and therefore turned to ride towards the boat, but as 
the rebels continued to advance rapidly in the same direction, 
he was compelled to put his horse to his best speed, and suc- 
ceeded in reaching the boat just as she was pushing oflP. The 
rebels, now under Polk in person, reached the shore a few 
minutes afterwards, and opened a severe musketry fixe on 
the transports, but as they fired low, little or no damage was 
done. The gun-boats replied with canister and grape and 
drove them back in confusion. 

The rebel historians claim this as a great victory, but noth- 
ing is more certain than that Grant accomplished his purpose, 
captured and burnt the rebel camps, took their artillery and 
compelled Pillow's command of five regiments to seek safety 
under cover of the river bank. After the rebel force had 
been doubled by two additional brigades, and had succeeded 
in surrounding Grant, the latter again broke the rebel lines 
and forced his way to the transports, inflicting almost twice as 
much loss upon the enemy as he had received. Oglesby's 
movement was entirely protected, and the rebels in all that 
region were thrown upon the defensive, lest their strong 
places should be wrested from them. The national troops 
engaged in the battle of Belmont had no doubt whatever 
that they had gained a substantial victory, and the memory 
of their deeds gave them a confidence and steadiness in action 
which transformed them at once into veterans. Neither offi- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 53 

cers nor men who participated in that battle were ever known 
to falter in the hour of danger, but wherever hard work was 
required or hard blows were to be given, a regiment with 
"Belmont" upon its flags was sure to be found. And yet 
the country at large did not realize these facts, but regarded 
Grant with distrust and looked upon the battle as at best a 
glorious misfortune. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE REBELS CONCENTRATE AT BOWLING GREEN AND STRENGTHEN CO- 
LUMBUS, FORTS DONELSON AND HENRY — FREMONT SUCCEEDED BY 
HALLECK — GRANT CONFIRMED IN HIS COMMAND — BUELL RELIEVES 
SHERMAN — HALLECK ON THE DEFENSIVE— GRANT MAKES A DEM- 
ONSTRATION TOWARDS COLUMBUS — RECOMMENDS A MOVEMENT 
AGAINST FORT HENRY — BEGINS THE MOVEMENT — CAPTURE OF 
FORT HENRY — CONCEPTION OF THIS MOVEMENT DUE TO GRANT. 

The rebels now set about strengthening tlieir position in 
West Tennessee and Kentucky, and accordingly Albert Sid- 
ney Jolinston, who had been sent West by the Davis govern- 
ment, with discretionary powers, determined to establish a 
strong defensive line extending from the Mississippi to Central 
Kentucky. He concentrated at Bowling Green, on the ex- 
treme right of this line, covering Nashville and Central Ten- 
nessee, a large and well appointed army. Columbus was 
rapidly strengthened by all the heavy guns which could be 
obtained, while the garrison was swelled by a large force, 
designed to cover INIemphis and hold the Mississippi. The 
centre of the line was occupied by two strongly entrenched 
camps. Fort Henry situated upon the east bank of the Ten- 
nessee River, and Fort Donelson on the west bank of the 
Cumberland. These positions had been selected and fortified 
with considerable care by experienced engineers, and were 
well placed, for the purpose of barring the navigation of the 
two rivers penetrating into the interior of Tennessee. Every 
exertion was made to render them entirely secure. Magazines 
were constructed, guns of heavy calibre were mounted upon 
the water fronts, and troops were gathered from all parts of 
the South with great dispatch. The rebel leaders seem to 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 55 

have become thoroughly alarmed, even at this early day* by 
the activity which the Union forces were displaying, and did 
all they could to give an exaggerated idea of their own num^ 
bers and resources. 

Owing to the failure of Fremont's administration of civil 
affairs in IMissouri, he was relieved on the 9th of November 
and was succeeded the same day by General Halleck, with 
enlarged authority both civil and military. 

The new command was designated as the department of the 
Missouri, and included Arkansas and Western Kentucky in 
addition to the territory which had heretofore been within the 
Kmits of Fremont's department. About the same time all 
that part of Kentucky and Tennessee lying east of the Cum- 
berland River, was erected into an independent command to 
be called the Department of the Ohio. General Buell was 
designated to relieve General Sherman, who had succeeded 
General Anderson a short time before 

General Halleck, continued Grant in the command which 
he had held under Fremont, but changed its designation to 
the District of Cairo — and extended its jurisdiction to include 
Paducah. During the two months which followed Halleck's 
accession to command in the West, no important operations 
were conducted from Grant's district, but the time was passed 
in instructing the troops, and in perfecting their organization. 

Early in January, 1862, Halleck ordered Grant to make 
demonstrations from Paducah and Bird's Point towards Co- 
lumbus for the purpose of preventing the re-enforcement of 
Buckner then collecting a large force at Bowling Green. In 
compliance with these instructions six thousand men under 
McClernand, were sent out from the neighborhood of Cairo, 
while a somewhat larger force under C- F. Smith moved at 
the same time from Paducah. These troops were marching 
and countermarching through the swamps of Kentucky, 
something over a week, and although they were not engaged 
in fighting they suffered greatly from exposure, and hardships. 
A few days after they started the order to send them was 
* '• Southern History of the War," p. 210. 



66 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

countermanded. In the meantime, as early as the 6th of 
January, Grant had conceived the idea of taking Forts 
Donelson and Henry, and had applied to General Halleck for 
authority to visit him at St. Louis in order that he might 
obtain permission for the movement. Buell had asked Mc- 
Clellan then General-in-Chief, that a demonstration might be 
made in the direction of Nashville, from Cairo, but neither 
Halleck nor McClellan seemed to realize the full importance 
of the suggestion. The latter in fact, declared the capture 
of Bow^ling Green and Nashville to be a matter of secondary 
importance at that time. But on the 22d of January Gen- 
eral Smith, who had just returned from a reconnoissance of 
Fort Henry, reported that the place could be easily taken by 
the iron clads and a strong co-operating land force, if the at- 
tack should be made within a short time. Grant sent this 
information at once to Halleck, and on the next day set out 
to visit him. Halleck however would not sanction the un- 
dertaking, but sent him back to his command with an intima- 
tion that it would be time enough to make suggestions when 
they were asked. Fortunately, however, Grant was not con- 
vinced by Halleck's ideas of strategy, but on the 28th of 
January, he telegraphed for permission " to take and hold 
Fort Henry," following it the next day by a letter stating his 
reasons more fully than he had yet done, for believing that 
the place could be taken and that considerations of sound 
policy would warrant the attempt. These repeated applica- 
tions, supported as they were by Commodore Foote, com- 
manding the naval forces in the vicinity of Cairo, at last 
prevailed, and Halleck issued the necessary orders for the 
movement. Detailed instructions were sent on the 30th of 
January, and reached Cairo on the 1st of February. On the 
2d, Grant, accompanied by seventeen thousand men on trans- 
ports, and seven iron-clads under the command of Commodore 
Foote, set out upon this expedition and two days thereafter 
the troops were disembarked a few miles below Fort Henry, 
for the purpose of marching upon its rear while the gun-boats' 
should attack it in front. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. ORANT. 57 

The rebels had erected batteries on both sides of the river 
and had garrisoned them by about 2500 men under General 
TUghman. The main work was however on the eastern side 
and consisted of an enclosed bastioned line mounting seventeen 
heavy guns, with a strong line of outworks, covering the ap- 
proach by the Dover road. Fort Heiman, on the opposite 
side of the river overlooked Fort Henry, but not having been 
finished the rebels abandoned it at the first intimation of 
dano-er. The Tennessee River at that time beino; very hio-h. 
Fort Henry situated on the bottom land, was entirely sur- 
rounded by water. Grant desired to make his movement 
entirely certain and to capture both forts with their garrisons. 
He therefore delayed the advance till the next day, employing 
the interval in bringing up additional troops, and in making 
his final dispositions for the attack. Not knowing that Fort 
Heiman had been evacuated he ordered C. F. Smith with 
two bi-igades to invest and take it at daylight, while McCler- 
nand was ordered with the remainder of the forces to move 
to the rear of Fort Henry and to take position on the roads 
to Fort Donelson and Dover. The iron-clads steamed up at 
the same time and by noon opened at short range upon the 
water batteries. The rebel artillerists under the direct com- 
mand of Tilghman in person, served their guns with accuracy 
and effect but after an hour and a half every gun was silenced. 
They could not hold out against the heavier metal of their 
assailants though they inflicted severe injury upon them. 
The Essex, was struck by a shot, which penetrated her boiler, 
causing a terrible explosion from the effects of which forty- 
eight soldiers and sailors were killed and wounded. The fort 
surrendered, with General Tilghman and staff, and about ninety 
men, but the main force, having been posted in the outworks 
on the high ground fled by the road to Fort Donelson as soon 
as they saw their flag hauled down. McClernand did not suc- 
ceed in reaching the place assigned him till some time after the 
retreat had begun, his delay having been unavoidably caused 
by the high water, bad roads, and difficult character of the 
country, and the victory was therefore not so complete as it 



68 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKAXT. 

might have been. Grant announced his success to Halleck, 
in a brief and modest telegram, closing with the information, 
that he should take and destroy Fort Donelson on the 8th 
and then return to Fort Henry. 

Note. — The conception of the movement against Forts Henry and Donelson 
is doubtless due to Grant, for, although others, as Sherman and Buell, may- 
have seen the necessity of this movement as soon as or even before Grant, 
there is no evidence that either of them ever suggested it to liim, or to any 
one else who did suggest it to him. Badeau's " Military History " gives a full 
and clear exposition of all the correspondence in regard to this matter, and 
shows clearly that it was Grant's persistence alone which succeeded in geting 
authority for the movement. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

BOWLING GREKN EVACUATED — FORT DONELSON HEAVILY RE-EN- 
i-ORCED AND STRENGTHENED — GRANT MOVES UPON IT — SKIRMISH- 
ING — INVESTMENT — DEFEAT OF THE GUN-BOATS — THE REBELS 
UNDERTAKE TO CUT THEIR WAY OUT — DESPERATE BATTLE — GRANT 
ARRIVES ON THE FIELD — RESTORES ORDER — ANECDOTE — RENEWS 
THE BATTLE — SMITH'S SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT — BUCKNER ASKS FOR 
AN ARMISTICE — GRANT PROPOSES TO MOVE AT ONCE UPON HIS 
WORKS — UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER — GRANT MADE MAJOB-GEN- 
ERAL — HALLECK'S JEALOUSY. 

In anticipation of further operations on the part of Grant's 
column, General Pillow assumed command at Fort Donelson 
on the 9th of February, and began at once to make prepara- 
tions for the coming struggle. The remnant of Tilghman's 
force had already arrived, and on the 13th, the garrison was 
further strengthened by a considerable force from Russellville 
under the command of Floyd. ' Johnston, who was then at 
Bowling Green in supreme command, called a council of his 
Generals, and after fully considering the condition of affairs, 
decided to fight the battle for Nashville and Middle Tennessee 
at Fort Donelson. He therefore detached all the troops that 
could be spared from the army confronting Buell, and did 
everything in his power to provide the army at Donelson 
with ammunition and the means of defense.* 

But Grant was equally prompt to perceive the advantage 
of activity, and made all haste to gather the means of assail- 
ing that important point, although he had been cautioned by 
Halleck to " strengthen Fort Henry and hold it at all hazards." 
Re-enforcements were hurried forward with admirable rapidity 

* See " Southern History of the "War." 



60 LIFE OF ULTSSES S. GRANT. 

by the Department Commander at St. Louis, but with them 
came shovels and picks in abundance, and the urgent advice 
to have them used by the slaves of the country, who might be 
impressed for that purpose. Grant with the Instinct of a true 
soldier, had no notion of wasting his time in such work. He 
had no sympathy with the excessive caution and timidity, 
which even at that day had begun to control the poHcy of 
the future General-in-Chief. 

The rapid rise of the Tennessee River made it Impossible 
to collect the forces in the neighborhood of Fort Henry, and 
get them ready for the advance. The gun-boats had not yet 
returned from their expedition up the Tennessee, so that not- 
withstanding Grant's Impatience, he was forced to wait as 
patiently as he might, although he knew that every moment's 
delay was making his task more difficult. 

On the 11th, a part of McClernand's command moved out 
several miles, and on the 12th, the whole force, consisting of 
McClernand's and Smith's divisions, about fifteen thousand 
strong. Including eight batteries of artillery, marched by the 
telegraph and Dover roads towards the rebel stronghold. 
The wagons, tents, and all "encumbrances" were left at I'ort 
Henry under the protection of Lewis "Wallace's brigade. 
Such re-enforcements as had already arrived, were ordered 
to remain on their transports and to accompany the gun-boats 
by the way of the Cumberland River to the neighborhood of 
Fort Donelson. 

The rebels made no effort to delay the advance of Grant's 
army, although the broken and heavily wooded country be- 
tween the two rivers would have rendered It an easy matter 
for a small force to give the national troops great annoyance. 

By this time the rebels had succeeded in making Fort Don- 
elson the strongest place In that theatre of operations. It 
was situated on the west bank of the Cumberland, on a rugged 
and heavily timbered range of hills, overlooking the river in 
one direction, and commanding the country in the other. The 
lines had been laid out by skillful engineers and were so ar- 
ranged on the water front as to completely sweep all the ap 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 61 

proaches on that side. At the foot of the hills on the same 
side were two powerful and well constructed sunken batteries 
mounting ten thirty-two-pounders, one ten-inch columbiad, 
and one heavy rifled gun. On the land side the main and 
inner line of breastworks was continuous, and followed the 
hills and ridges with re-entrants, curtains and salients, so as 
to enclose over a hundred acres of ground, and to give a front 
of over two miles, covered throughout by heavy slashing and 
abattis. Both flanks of this line rested upon creeks, the banks 
of which were overflowed by the back water from the river. 
Still outside of this line, encircling the fort and the town of 
Dover, was a line of detached rifle trenches, surmounted by 
log breastworks. The rebel force consisted of twenty-six 
regiments of infantry, two independent battalions, and For- 
rest's cavalry,* numbering in all about twenty-three thousand 
muskets, and sixty-five guns, of which, seventeen were heavy, 
and the rest field pieces. 

On the 10 th Pillow held command of the rebel forces, but 
he was superseded by Floyd, (secretary of war under Bu- 
chanan) on the 13th. The other prominent rebel command- 
ers were Buckner, and Bushrod Johnson, the former having 
command of the fort and inner line, while the latter assisted 
Pillow in the command of the rebel left. 

Shortly after noon of the 12th the advance guard of Mc- 
Clernand's and C. F. Smith's columns drove in the rebel 
pickets and came within sight of the stronghold, in front of 
which they gradually took up their position. Smith on the 
left and INIcClernand on the right. Slight skirmishing ensued 
at intervals along the lines, but nothing like an engagement 
took place that evening. The rebels seemed undecided, while 
Grant did not care to strike till he could have the powei'ful 
assistance of the turtle-back iron-clads. The next day was 
spent in reconnoitering the ground, extending and adjusting 
the lines, and perfecting the investment. Sharp skirmishing, 
and some desultory fighting took place, but the rebels still 
refrained from attacking. The non-arrival of the gun-boats 
* " Southern History of the War." 



62 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

and of the expected re-enforcements, was a sufficient reason 
why Grant should not seek to hasten the action. By the 
second night, he had made the investment as complete as it 
could be made by the force then at hand. His line was about 
three miles in extent, the left resting on Hickman's Creek 
and communicating with the Cumberland while the centre 
occupied an open field, and the right extended well out 
through the wooded country towards Dover. Batteries of 
field guns occupied favorable positions along the line, but no 
entrenchments had been thrown up, notwithstanding General 
Halleck's foresight in sending forward axes, shovels and picks. 
Neitker Grant nor his army had yet thought it necessary to 
resort to such weapons during the progress of an active cam- 
paign. Everything was in readiness for an assault or a siege, 
as circumstances might require, as soon as Foote and the 
transports should make their appearance. At this time, it 
will be remembered, that Grant's forces consisted of only two 
divisions of infantry, one regiment of cavalry and six field 
batteries, about 14,000 men, or nearly ten thousand less than 
the rebel force in their front.* 

Foote reached the neighborhood of Fort Donelson during 
the night of the 13th, bringing with him the long-expected 
re-enforcements. These were disembarked at once, formed 
into a new division under General Lewis Wallace and as- 
signed to a place between Smith and McClernand, near the 
center, while McArthur's brigade of Smith's division was 
moved to the extreme right of the line. These dispositions 
were perfected by noon ot the 14th, and at three P. M., the 
flotilla, under Foote steamed up the Cumberland and opened 
fire at close range upon the rebel works. The rebel batteries 
replied at once and with great spirit, and having an elevation 
of thirty or forty feet above the water, they were enabled to 
deliver their shot with telling effect. The iron-clads continued 

* " Campaigns of General Forrest," p. 95, states : " As it was. Grant, land- 
ing with a petty force of fifteen thousand in the very centre of a force of nearly 
forty-five thousand, having the interior lines for concentration and communi- 
cation, by railway at that, was able to take two heavy fortifications in detail, 
and place hors de combat nearly Jijleen thousand of his enemy. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 63 

their approach to within four hundred yards, and would doubt- 
less have succeeded in driving the rebels from their guns had 
not two of the best boats been disabled. The action continued 
an hour and a half with great desperation, but at the end of 
that time all the gun-boats were so severely crippled that they 
were obliged to haul off. They had lost fifty-four men, killed 
and wounded, including among the latter, Commodore Foote 
and several other officers. 

McClernand had made a gallant but unauthorized attack 
on the right of the line, in which Colonels Wallace, Haynie, 
and Morrison, and the troops under their command behaved 
with great intrepidity ; sharp skirmishing had been going on 
all day in front of the other divisions, it having been Grant's 
intention to order a general attack in case the navy should 
succeed in silencing the rebel batteries. This not having been 
done the army continued immovable. The losses up to this 
time were insignificant, not exceeding three hundred and fifty 
killed and wounded. 

The rebels deluded themselves with the belief that they 
had gained important advantages, and were greatly elated by 
their partial success, from the fact that the batteries had 
beaten off the gun-boats.* 

The entrenchments on the land side seemed to be so strong 
and so well manned as to forbid the hope of a successful as- 
sault by new troops. Grant had begun to contemplate a 
resort to the slow and tedious process of a regular siege, but 
the idea that he had lost the day, or would not ultimately 
reduce the place, never entered his mind. In the words of 
Colonel Oglesby : " he had gone there to take that fort, and 
intended to stay till he did it." Re-enforcements had begun 
to pour in rapidly, and although the men were entirely un- 
trained, they were of the right material to encounter danger 
and hardships. Up to the 13th, the weather was fine and 
warm, but during that night a storm of sleet, hail, and snow 
set in, and before morning the mercury stood at twenty de- 
grees below the freezing point. The tents had been left be- 
" Southern History of the "War." 



64 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAKT. 

hind, the troops were without rations or fires, and many had 
even thrown away their blankets during the march from Fort 
Henry, yet there was no faltering. Every man stood to his 
post, and every officer did his duty cheerfully and willingly. 

The rebels seeing the Union lines strengthening day by 
day, seemed from the first to have had no hope of maintain- 
ing their position. They were kept constantly on the alert 
lest the attack should fall upon them unexpectedly, while the 
cold and wet pinched them as unrelentingly as it did the 
hardy northerners. The situation was far from being an agree- 
able one, and in the vivid imagination of Floyd and Pillow, it 
appeared worse than it really was,* On the night of the 
14th, Floyd called a council of his Generals, in which it was 
represented that it was absolutely impossible to hold out for 
any length of time with their inadequate numbers and inde- 
fensible position. On this statement of the case, after much 
discussion, it was decided that " but one course remained by 
which a rational hope of saving the garrison could be enter- 
tained, and that was to drive back the molesting force on the 
Dover side, and pass their troops into the open country in the 
direction of Nashville." f But as a matter of course, this de- 
termination was not discovered till the rebels had nearly suc- 
ceeded in their attempt to carry it into effect. 

At two o'clock A. M., Grant was sent for by Commodore 
Foote, and before dawn of the 15th, he had gone on board the 
flag-ship, where he received the information that the fleet would 
be compelled to return to Cairo for repairs. In the meantime 
the rebels had made arrangements to carry out their desper- 
ate policy, and as soon as it was light they sallied from the 
left of their line in heavy masses. The attack fell at first 
upon McArthur's brigade of Smith's division, but soon ex- 
tended along the brigades of Oglesby and W. H. L. Wallace, 
of McClernand's division, and ultimately to Cruft's brigade 

*" Campaiecns of Forrest," p. 70, states that a council was held early on the 
morning of the 14th, at which it was decided to make a sortie and escape to 
the open country, but it was abandoned for some reasons not made public. 

t " Southern History of the War," p. 247. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 65 

of L. "Wallace's division. The national troops fought with 
great courage, stubbornly holding their own as long as it was 
possible, against the superior weight and impulsion of the 
enemy's columns. Even when they yielded their ground, it 
was only because their ammunition was exhausted. General 
McClernand, and Colonels McArthur, Oglesby, Cruft, Logan, 
Lawler, W. H. L. Wallace, and Kansom, together with the 
field and line officers of every grade, behaved with the most 
conspicuous gallantry. Taylor's, Dresser's and McAlhster's 
batteries were well posted and swept the advancing rebels 
with a storm of canister and grape. Everything that valor 
and endurance could do to stem the tide of defeat was done, 
and yet with varying fortunes and occasional success, the 
Union troops were slowly pressed back. The ammunition of 
nearly all the troops engaged had been exhausted, and the 
crisis of the battle seemed to have arrived, when taking ad- 
vantage of a halt in the fight, Thayer's brigade of Lewis 
Wallace's division, moved into the post of danger, while the 
hard pressed regiments of the right refilled their cartridge 
boxes. So great had been the rebel success, that Pillow 
paused in the heat of his advance and sent to Johnston 
at Nashville, the following message : " On the honor of a 
soldier, the day is ours." But he had claimed the victory 
before it was won, for, although the tide of battle in the 
morning had set strongly in his favor, he was destined before 
night-fall to have it rolled back upon him with resistless force. 
At nine o'clock. Grant having finished his interview with 
Foote, set out to return to his head-quarters, but received 
no intimation of what was taking place, till he met an aid 
who had been sent to inform him of the rebel sortie. On 
his way to the field of battle, he encountered C. F. Sinith, 
who had not yet been engaged, and at once ordered him to 
hold himself in readiness to assault the rebel right with his 
entire division. Pushing on rapidly, he soon came in sight 
of his broken and disordered troops. The condition of affairs 
was nearly as bad as it could be. Logan, Lawler, and Ran- 
som, were wounded, and a larire number of the best officers 



G6 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

and men were killed. Whilst riding over the field in the 
midst of the confusion and uncertainty which prevailed, 
Grant discovered that the knapsacks of the rebel dead were 
packed, and that their haversacks were filled with rations. 
Knowing that no soldier would have made such preparations 
for an ordinary sortie nor even for a general battle, he saw at 
once that the rebels had been fighting for a road to the open 
country. Fully appreciating the situation, he said to those 
about him : " Whichever party makes the first attack will 
win the day, and the rebels will have to be very quick if they 
beat me ! " He sent his staff at once to reassure the troops 
by telling them of his fortunate discovery, and with the 
promptitude of genius, gave the word for an advance along 
the entire line. Having done this, he put spurs to his horse 
and galloped to the place where he had left Smith, and ordered 
his division to assault the enemy's works. Immediately after- 
wards he requested Foote, in writing, to steam up with his 
fleet and make a show of renewing the attack. 

At about four o'clock, everything was in readiness. On 
the center and right, Wallace's division, Cruft's and M. L. 
Smith's brigades in advance, supported, as occasion required, 
by McClernand and McArthur, moved against the enemy, 
and after a gallant struggle, recaptured the lost guns of the 
morning and pressed him back into his works. 

In obedience to the orders of his chief, C. F. Smith had 
lost no time in forming Lauman's brigade, composed of the 
Second, Seventh, and Fourteenth Iowa, with the Twenty- 
fifth and Fifty-second Indiana, into a column of attack. Hav- 
ing ordered Cook's brigade to make a demonstration on his 
left, he rode along the lines of the forlorn hope, and in a few 
soldierly words taught them what must be done. It was lute 
in the afternoon when the sharp rattle of musketry, mingled 
with the sullen roar of artillery from the center and right, 
told the gallant veteran that the time for his advance had 
come. Throwing himself between the two lines, he gave tlie 
word " forward." His men sprang to the attack with a zeal 
and rapidity rarely surpassed, and although the ground over 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 6( 

which they had to move was broken, covered with a dense 
growth of small trees, and swept by the sharp and unrelent- 
ing musketry of the rebels, they pushed forwai-d, through 
brush and abattis, scaled the heights and burst upon the rebel 
line with a force that nothing human could resist. Artillery 
and re-enforcements hurried forward, securing the advantage 
which had been gained, and pressing the enemy still farther 
back, while McClernand, Wallace, and McArthur, pushed 
their advance with renewed vigor. 

When night closed, the desperate struggle was no longer 
doubtful. It found the Union army flushed with victory, and 
filled with hope for the morrow. It had regained all the 
ground lost during the day ; re-established and strengthened 
its lines, and what was better, had secured a firm lodgment 
within the enemy's stronghold. Grant's generalship, after his 
timely appearance upon the field, aided by the valor of Smith 
and the steady courage of his undisciplined volunteers, won 
the day, even after it had been lost. 

During the night which followed, Floyd again called his 
officers together, but this time for the purpose of finding some 
one brave enough to relieve him from the duty of surrender- 
ing. Conscious of the many injuries he had inflicted on the 
country, whilst secretary of war, he feared that, once a pris- 
oner, summary justice would be executed upon him. He there- 
fore made over the command to Pillow, who with pusillanimous 
haste, " passed " it to Buckner the third in rank.* This being 
done, these men took possession of two small steamboats, and 
with a small brigade of troops, stole away from their comrades. 
Colonel Forest with his regiment of cavalry, went out by the 
river road. Buckner did not hesitate in the only course left 
him, but called at once for a bugler, and wrote a note to Grant 
asking for an armistice and the appointment of commissioners 
to arrange the terms of' capitulation. Grant having issued 
orders the night before for an early attack, declined the armis- 
tice, and replied at once : " No terms other than an imcon- 
ditional and immediate surrender, can he accepted. I propose 
* Rebel Official Reports. 



68 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

to move immediately upon your works ! " These words were 
as startling to the rebels as the attack which they portended 
would have been, and were answered by the " unconditional 
and immediate surrender," of Fort Donelson and all its gar- 
rison, consisting of 14,623 men, with 17 heavy guns, 48 field 
pieces, over 20,000 stands of small arms, and about 3,000 
horses, besides large quantities of military stores of all kinds. 
The news of this splendid victory spread like lightning. 
The name of Grant was hailed with joy, while the deeds of 
his gallant army were read with eager delight by every loyal 
citizen and true soldier, throughout the land. The President 
hastened to express his gratitude to Grant by sending him the 
commission of Major-General. Everybody rejoiced at this act 
of justice, except General Halleck, who did all in his power 
to give exclusive credit for the victory to C. F. Smith, and to 
secure for that officer the reward which Grant had so honestly 
won. On the other hand. Grant never for a moment with- 
held the praise which was due to his subordinates, but with 
the least possible delay, recommended all who earned it, for 
promotion, and yet there were some among them who did not 
scruple to charge him with incompetency, or to circulate ca- 
luminous reports against his private character.* 

*For a full explanation of Halleck's action towards Grant, see Badeau's 
" Rlilitary History of Ulysses S. Grant." 



CHAPTEE IX. 

FRUITS OF THE VICTORY AT FORT DONELSOX — NASHVILLE EVACUA- 
TED — JOHNSTON CONCENTRATES HIS ARMY AT MURFREESBORO — 
EVACUATION OF COLUMBUS — GRANT ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE 
DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE — SHERMAN SUCCEEDS HIM AT CAIRO 
— GRANT RESTRAINED BY HALLECK — REBUKED AND RELIEVED FROM 
COMMAND FOR GOING TO NASHVILLE — CHARGED WITH INSUBORDI- 
NATION — HE ASKS TO BE RELIEVED — RESTORED TO COMMAND — 
THE REBELS CONCENTRATE AT CORINTH — BUELL ORDERED TO JOIN 
GRANT — GRANT TAKES COMMAND AT SAVANNAH — CONCENTRATES 
HIS ARMY AT PITTSBURG LANDING — STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS — 
BUELL SLOW — THE REBELS DETERMINED TO FALL UPON GRANT 
— PRELIMINARIES TO THE BATTLE OF SHILOH — GRANT PREPARED — 
TERRIBLE FIGHTING — DETAILS OF THE FIRST DAY'S OPERATIONS 
— ARRIVAL OF BUELL — GRANT STILL HOPEFUL — THE BATTLE RE- 
NEWED NEXT MORNING — EASY VICTORY — RESULTS. 

The damage inflicted upon the rebel cause by the fall of 
Fort Donelson was not limited by the prisoners and spoils 
captured at that place. Southern Kentucky and a large 
portion of Middle Tennessee, were cleared completely of all 
insurgent force, and including the strongly fortified camps at 
Columbus and Bowling Green, as well as the important city 
of Nashville with large quantities of military stores that could 
not be removed, passed at once under the control of the, Union 
armies. The entire North was electrified with hope and in- 
spired by renewed vigor, while the South was correspondingly 
depressed. 

General Johnston, the rebel commander, realizing when it 
was too late to avert it, that the Confederacy, through his 
policy of dispersion, had received a vital blow, set himself 
to work vigorously to concentrate and reorganize his broken 



70 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

and widely scattered forces. After much trouble and gome 
delay he succeeded in collecting at ISIurfreesboro, an army 
which, according to the rebel historian, Pollard, numbered 
seventeen thousand men, though in all probability it was 
considerably larger ; his object now being to cooperate with 
Beauregard, and ultimately to join with him in the defence 
of the lower Mississippi valley and the railroad system of 
the South-west. This required the establishment and main- 
tenance of a new defensive line, of which Island No. 10 and 
Murfreesboro at first, and Corinth and Chattanooga after- 
wards became the principal points. 

General Halleck, soon after the great victory on the Cum- 
berland, set movements on foot under the direction of General 
l*ope, which resulted in compelling the evacuation of Island 
No. 10. This event occurred on the 8th of April, and in con- 
nection with the operations which we are about to describe, 
gave the control of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, 
as far down as Memphis. 

In obedience to an assignment from Halleck, Grant assumed 
command of the new military district of West Tennessee, with 
limits undefined, on the 17th of February, and was succeeded 
in command of the District of Cairo by General W. T. Sher- 
man, who had been stationed at Paducah during the operations 
against Fort Donelson. This officer had exerted himself to 
the utmost in forwarding re-enforcements and supplies, and 
lost no opportunity to encourage and sup)5ort our army in the 
field, and although he was Grant's superior in rank, he ex- 
pressed a willingness to join and serve under him, without 
raising the question of precedence. Grant heartily apprecia- 
ted this zealous and patriotic conduct, as well as the kindness 
and confidence with which Sherman had offered his services. 
It speaks well for both that henceforth these men were firm 
and devoted friends. 

Immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson, Halleck tele- 
graphed to Grant to be cautious in his movements— to risk 
nothing by sending out detachments, and that it would be 
better to retreat than to risk a general battle. But Grant, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 71 

■with the true instincts of a General, sent C. F. Smith, on ihe 
21st of February, to take Clarksville, and on the 2Tth, went 
in person to Nashville for the purpose of conferring with Buell, 
whose advance had reached that place. He was anxious to 
know in what direction he should have to strike next, and 
therefore did all he could to keep himself informed of the 
enemy's movements. During this time he wrote and tele- 
graphed daily to Halleck and his Chief-of-staif, in regard to 
the condition and whereabouts of his command, and neglected 
nothing which should have engaged the attention of a care- 
ful and painstaking General. And yet his dissatisfied and 
envious superior, charged him with neglect of duty and diso- 
bedience of orders, and shortly afterwards reported him to 
Washington as irresolute and insubordinate. 

On the 4th of March, Halleck, having already ordered the 
army from Fort Donelson to Fort Henry, with the view of 
operations up the Tennessee Eiver, inflicted the further indig- 
nity upon Grant of compelling him to place JNIajor-General 
C. F. Smith in command of the expedition and to remain 
himself in command of Fort Henry. Smarting under the 
unjust rebukes which were continually coming from Halleck's 
head-quarters, and feeling keenly the crowning act of injus- 
tice which had been inflicted upon him, Grant made a truthful 
and soldierly statement of his conduct up to that time, closing 
with the request "to be relieved from further duty in the 
Department." Instead of granting this request Halleck re- 
iterated his unwarranted rebukes, to which Grant replied by 
requesting to be relieved from further duty till he could place 
himself right in the estimation of those higher in authority. 
The decided and spirited tone of this letter seems to have 
brought Halleck to his senses at last, for about the middle of 
March he answered Grant that he could not be relieved from 
duty, but as soon as it could be assembled in the field, he 
must resume command of his new army and lead it on to new 
victories. 

In accordance with this authority, Grant took command of 
his troops, and began at once to make preparations for putting 



( :: LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

tiiem in the field. But the first order he received from Ilal- 
leck was : " Don't bring on a general engagement ; if the 
enemy appear in force, our troops must fall back — General 
Smith must hold his position without exposing himself." 

In the meantime General Smith had pushed forward to the 
neighborhood of Eastport for the purpose of making a move- 
ment against the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, some- 
where between Decatur and Corinth, but under the influence 
of Ilalleck's timid and vacillating policy this movement was 
paralyzed, almost at the outset, and was finally abandoned 
without resulting in serious injury to the enemy. The rebels, 
having sent a small force from Corinth, which seemed to 
threaten Smith's rear, he fell back from Eastport and disem- 
barked his forces at Savannah, and at Crump's and Pittsburg 
Landings. 

By this time the rebel policy of concentration had begun 
to develop itself, and in order to counteract it, Buell was or- 
dered from Xashville to Savannah by the way of Columbia 
and Waynesboro, and every effort was made to re-enforce the 
army on the Tennessee, and to prepare it for a desperate 
struggle. Volunteers from all parts of the North-west were 
rapidly sent forward. They were composed of good and true 
men but none of them had seen service, and many of them 
were not even provided with arms and camp equipage. As 
a matter of course, no forward movement except with the 
older troops could be made till these deficiencies had been 
in a measure supplied. The new regiments were assigned to 
brigades and divisions as fast as they arrived, new encamp- 
ments were formed, and whatever could be done, was done to 
get the army into shape. 

On the 17th of March, Grant assumed direct command 
of the troops, with his head-quarters at Savannah, a smiill 
town on the east side of the Tennessee River, from which 
communication could be kept up with Buell, now known to 
be moving in that direction. He found McClernand's and 
Smith's divisions, the oldest and best part of the army, en- 
camped at that place ; "Wallace lay at Crump's Landing, still 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 73 

farther up the river, but on the opposite side ; while Ilurlbut 
and Sherman with their new levies were some miles further 
on at Pittsburg Landing. Seeing at a glance, that in the 
event of an attack, his army would be at the mercy of the 
enemy, Grant determined to concentrate without delay at 
Pittsburg Landing. 

Accordingly, McCIernand and Smith were sent thither as 
fast as the steamboats could carry them. Wallace was re- 
garded as being within supporting distance, and was there- 
fore left in his old camp, with orders to keep a lookout for the 
enemy in the direction of Purdy. 

The point at which the troops were concentrated, is on the 
west bank of the river, twenty miles north-east from Corinth, 
and was first selected by General Smith. It was well chosen, 
for although it lay upon the side of the river next to the 
enemy, it gave our troops the power of moving out for battle 
at any time as a unit, and being partially covered in front by 
Owl Creek, flanked on one side by Lick Creek and on the 
other by 5nake Creek, both of which are difficult to pass at 
all times, and specially so during high water, it was suscepti- 
ble of an easy defense. Had Savannah, or any point on the 
east bank of the river been selected, the army would certainly 
liave been safe so long as it remained stationary, but as soon 
as it should become necessary to advance, the lack of steam- 
boats or pontoons to cross the entire army at once, and the 
danger of crossing by detachment, would have more than 
counter-balanced the danger incurred by concentrating at 
Pittsburg Landing. Grant had also determined to remove 
his head-quarters to Pittsburg Landing, as soon as the troops 
could all be collected there, but owing to a deficiency of 
steamboats, it required a longer time to do this than had been 
expected. On the 4th of April, however, just as everything 
was in readiness for the abandonment of Savannah, Grant re- 
ceived a telegram asking him to meet General Buell at that 
place the next day. Desiring to confer with Buell, the order 
for the movement was suspended, but Buell did not reach 
Savannah as expected, and Grant was aompelled to wait till 



74 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the 6th. Buell began his movement on the 15th of March, 
and although the distance to be overcome was only one hun- 
dred and twenty miles, it took his army twenty-three days 
to reach the Tennessee River. 

It is not within the limits of this work to give the details 
of the correspondence between Grant, Halleck, and Buell, 
concerning the events of the three weeks which preceded the 
battle of Shiloh. But after careful study of those documents 
in connection with the fact that there was no considerable 
force of armed rebels at that time, in all Middle Tennessee, it 
is hard to imagine how the warmest partisan of Buell can 
claim that he moved with proper celerity. The simple truth 
is that he was 'Culpably and tardy in all his movements, then 
as well as frequently afterwards. To him alone belongs the 
blame, if there is any due, for whatever advantage the rebels 
gained by having the preponderance of force in the first day 
of the battle at Shiloh. 

Grant has been severely and unjustly criticised for the con- 
dition in which his army was caught by that battle. He has 
been charged directly or indirectly with the responsibility for 
the absence of pontoons, the insufficiency of river transporta- 
tion, the delay of Buell, both in the march and in crossing the 
river, the alleged disadvantages of the field on which he 
fought, the rawness of the troops, and the three weeks of in- 
activity after he arrived at Savannah.* But when it is remem- 
bered that Ilalleck with his head-quarters at St. Louis, five 
hundred miles away, held general command and directed the 
movements of all the loyal forces in Kentucky, Tennessee, 
and ISIissouri, forwarded the re-enforcements, controlled the 
supplies of every kind, including pontoons and river transpor- 
tation, assigned commanders, and dictated the minutest details 
of the policy which they were to pursue, it may be justly 
stated that he was mainly responsible for the deficiencies which 
embarrassed the movements of the army. He it was who 
forbade all movements against the enemy after the fall of 
Donelson, " till re-enforcements were received," who super- 

* See " Swinton's Twelvf Decisive Battles of the "War " — Article, Shiloh. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 75 

ceded Grant, and kept him in disgrace at Fort Henry, till the 
advance of the army, had been arrested, and who, even after 
the restoration of Grant to his command again, forbade him 
to move against the enemy till Buell should arrive. 

Followino- sharply upon the commencement of Smith's op- 
erations in the direction of Eastport, the concentration of rebel 
troops at Corinth began. Beauregard, who had been sent to the 
South-west, Avith unlimited authority, exerted himself to the 
utmost to consummate this movement. Having determined, 
wisely for the rebels, to inaugurate a new policy that should 
be aggressive instead of defensive, he ordered Polk to with- 
draw from Columhus, and sent a part of his force to Island 
No. 10, which had been fortified for their reception. But the 
larger part consisting of two strong divisions, were hurried 
rapidly to Corinth. Bragg's fine corps, said to be "the 
best troops in the Confederacy," were brought up from Mo- 
bile and Pensacola, while Johnston's army consisting of Har- 
dee's corps and Breckenridge's division, were brought by rail 
from Murfreesboro and Chattanooga. In addition to this, the 
Governors of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and 
Tennessee, were called upon for volunteers, and in speedy 
response sent forward their people towards Corinth by regi- 
ments, companies, squads and singly. Johnston being the 
fienior oflficer assumed the general command, though Beaure- 
gard was the controlling spirit. Scouts and spies kept them 
informed of everything going on in the national camp, and 
advised them promptly of Buell's progress. When Buell's 
bridge over Duck River was finished, and news reached them 
of his advance towards Savannah, they determined to fall at 
once upon Grant. On the 3rd of April, this movement began, 
but on account of bad roads and difficult marching, it was 
not till night of the next day, that the main interval had been 
passed. The expectation of the rebels was to attack at dawn 
of the 5th, but before that time a furious rain-storm set in 
and suspended all further operations for twenty-four hours. 
The rebel cavalry and small detachments had made their ap- 
pearance along the Union outposts, as early as the 2d of 



76 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

April, SO that skirmishes were of almost hourly occurrence, 
till the battle itself finally burst upon the army.* 

The general features of the field upon which the battle of 
Shiloh was fought, may be briefly described as follows : It is 
a rugged plateau, ninety or a hundred feet above the river, 
seamed and broken by ravines, and covered throughout its 
extent, by dense forests, and underbrush, except at wide in- 
tervals, where small fields have been cleared for cultivation. 
Falling off gradually towards the interior, it is limited on the 
north and south by Lick and Snake Creeks, which empty into 
the Tennessee about four miles apart, and both which are im- 
passible during high water. Between two and three miles 
from the river, the heads and affluents of these streams inter- 
lace and seam the plateau into ugly and difficult ridges. 
Pittsburg Landing, with its two or three log cabins, had been 
at one time an important shipping point, but since the days 
of railroads its glory had departed. The roads, however, 
which connect it with Purdy, Corinth, Hamburg and Crump's 
Landing, rendered it easily accessible from the surrounding 
country. 

The morning of Sunday, April 6th, which broke clear and 
bright, found Grant anxious and uneasy still detained at Sa- 
vannah for the purpose of conferring with Buell. The contin- 
uous skirmishing of the few days just passed, together with the 
information gathered from scouts and rebel prisoners had put 
him on his guard. The army was encamped in the following 
order : Hurlbut and "\Yallace held an interior position, stretch- 
ing from the Tennessee River across the lower bridge on Snake 
Creek, while Sherman, McClernand and Prentiss occupied an 
irregular line, something over a mile farther out, of which the 
key point was near Shiloh Church on the main road to Corinth. 

* " Campaigns of General Forrest," p. Ill : " But General Beauregard earn- 
estly advised the idea of attacking the enemy should be abandoned, and that 
the whole force should return to Corinth, inasmuch as it was now scarcely pos- 
sible they would be able to take the Federals unawares, after such delay, and 
the noisy demonstrations which had been made meanwhile." 

Same, p. 113 : During Saturday, " there was a good deal of unimportant 
but lively skirmishing." 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. U 

The right of this line was held by McDowell's brigade of 
Sherman's division, occupying a position on the Purdy road 
near the crossing of Owl Creek; the left resting on the Ten- 
nessee, was held by Stuart's brigade of the same division, well 
posted on the Hamburg road just north of Lick Creek ; while 
the center was held by the two remaining brigades of Sher- 
man's division, posted near Shiloh Church, nearly three miles 
out on the Corinth road, assisted by Prentiss, whose division 
still farther to the left, covered a net-work of paths connecting 
the main roads to Corinth and Hamburg. McClernand lay 
from a quarter to a half mile behind Sherman with his right 
somewhat refused ; Lewis Wallace was at Crump's Landing. 
Thus it will be seen that Grant's army was formed in two 
lines, something over a mile apart, with the advanced line 
strongly re-enforced on the right. His entire force on the 
field was thirty-three thousand men, or thirty-eight thousand 
with "Wallace's division. It has been stated that Grant's 
army was surprised in its camp, but this statement like many 
others, has not stood the test of investigation. Neither Hal- 
leck, Grant nor Buell, expected the rebel army to sally from 
its works to offer battle, but when it did so, its coming was no 
secret. Both Sherman and Prentiss were on the alert at an 
early hour ; their outposts, more than a mile and a half in 
advance, had discovered the enemy on the 5th, and had been 
strongly re-enforced. At early dawn both divisions were under 
arms and ready for the conflict about to burst upon them. 

The rebel army advanced to the attack along all the roads 
leading from Corinth, with its three corps formed in line, one 
behind another, Hardee leading, followed by Bragg, and then 
by Polk and the reserve under Breckenridge.* The outposts 
of Prentiss and Sherman, received the first onset of the 

*" Forrest and his Campaigns " gives tlie rebel force as follows : 

1. Polks corps, 2 Divisions, 4 Brigades, 10,000 men, effective. 

2. Bragg's " 2 " 6 " 15,000 " 

3. Hardee's" 2 " 6 " 13,500 " 
Cavalry, 4,500 

Total, 43,000 men and 50 guns. 



78 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

enemy, but stubbornly disputing every step of the ground, 
falling back slowly from tree to tree, and making every log 
and ridge a breastwork, they stayed the enemy's advance, for 
an hour and a half By half-past seven o'clock the battle had 
begun to rage heavily along the entire Union center. Hardee, 
with his two wide stretching divisions had pressed close in 
upon Prentiss, overlapping him en both flanks and extending 
well across Sherman's front, but by this time his lines had 
been broken and filled with intervals, into which Bragg lost 
no time in pushing his well disciplined regiments and bri- 
gades. The force now converging their fire upon Prentiss' 
front, consisted of nearly three full divisions, and several 
batteries, while the rest of the rebel forces, under Hindman, 
Cleburne and Wood, were pressing forward heavily against 
Sherman. Fortunately they were met by men who were as 
brave and steady as themselves, though far newer in the ser- 
vice of battle. By eight o'clock the struggle was raging 
furiously at every point. Sherman and Prentiss were inde- 
fatigable in their efforts to hold their hard pressed and over- 
matched battalions to the deadly work ; their batteries were 
well posted and well served, and their infantry delivered a fire 
as deadly as that they received. But Polk's divisions soon 
swelled the ranks of the enemy. Johnston and Beauregard 
seemed determined to sweep everything before them by the 
very force of numbers, and in a fury of determination pressed 
forward, regiment, brigade and division, with unrelenting 
vigor. Gradually the flanks of Prentiss' division were pressed 
back, and then the center, by the overwhelming force which 
fell upon them. Sherman's left, composed of raw recruits, 
was also compelled to give ground shortly afterwards, but 
that gallant General still held his right and center at Shiloh 
Church, with the tenacity of a bull-dog. By this time his 
left, strengthened by four regiments from Hurlbut's division, 
and three regiments and several batteries, (the veterans of 
Donelson,) from iMcClernand's division, had filled the gap 
between Sherman and Prentiss, and with a gallantry rarely 
equalled they stayed the rebel advance. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 79 

Grant had taken an early breakfast, at his head-quarters 
near Savannah, and was about starting to meet Buell, when 
he heard the opening guns of the enemy. With his usual 
promptitude he dispatched an order to Nelson, commanding 
liueil's leading division, to push forward to Pittsburg as rap- 
idly as possible. He also wrote to Buell, telling him that the 
action had begun — and then set out for Pittsburg Landing, 
where he arrived at eight o'clock, having stopped on his way 
at Crump's, and ordered Wallace to hold himself in readiness 
either to march to the battle-field or to defend his camp. 

Grant hastened at once to the front, encouraging men and 
officers, pushing forward supplies of ammunition, ordering 
>tragglers to rejoin their colors, sending re-enforcements to 
various parts of the line, and fearlessly exposing himself on 
every part of the field. His efforts were unceasing but his 
hard pressed army was gradually driven back. At 10 o'clock 
he had reached the extreme advance, and was helping Sher- 
man to hold his staggering forces to their work. By this 
time Hurlbut, W. H. L. AVallace (with Smith's veteran di- 
vision), and McClernand, had moved up to strengthen the cen- 
ter, lying between and across the two roads to Corinth. Every 
brigade was now engaged ; Stuart held the left, then came 
Hurlbut, then the remnant of Prentiss' division, next Wal- 
lace ; next McClernand, and finally Sherman. In this order, 
our troops, although assailed by nearly double their numbers, 
fought the battle through. First one part and then another 
of the line receiving the full force of the rebel attack, the 
army was gradually driven towards the Landing. Hurlbut's 
line was repeatedly broken but not disheartened ; he re-formed 
it and held on, yielding only when overpowered. Prentiss, by 
dint of extra stubbornness, or being more fortunate — perhaps 
more unfortunate — maintained his position till he had been 
surrounded and captured with nearly three thousand of his. 
men. Wallace was killed, and his division pressed back si- 
multaneously with Hurlbut, carrying back McClernand's left ; 
and finally even Sherman was compelled to yield, yet the day 
was not lost irrevocably. If Buell or Wallace would only 



80 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

come, victory might be snatched from the jaws of defeat. 
Many men had fled from the field early in the fight, and 
sought safety at the Landing — but the heroes of Fredericks- 
town, Belmont, and Donelson, showed themselves to be veter- 
ans in every sense, their splendid valor remaining unshaken, 
though their ranks had been terribly thinned. 

Early in the day. Grant dispatched orders for Lewis Wal- 
lace to march to the battle ; and as the fight grew in fierce- 
ness, couriers and staff officers were sent to hurry his laggard 
footsteps. But through some untoward fatality, night closed 
upon the struggle before Wallace had overcome the few short 
miles which separated him from fame and the stricken field. 
Nelson and Wood, commanding divisions of Buell's army, 
now known to have reached the river, were also urged to 
lose no time, in crossing to Grant's assistance. 

It was the middle of the afternoon when Buell, in person, 
arrived upon the field, in advance of his troops. Almost his 
first question was : " What preparations have you made for 
retreating. General ? " Grant, to whom the question was ad- 
dressed, replied with the courage of a paladin: *•'• Ihave not 
despaired of whipping them yet! " * 

Nelson's troops began to arrive upon the field at a little 
before five o'clock, and were ordered into position on the left 
of the line, but not till the action had nearly ceased. They 
lost only three men before darkness put an end to the battle. 

Johnston had been killed early in the afternoon, but Beaure- 
gard took his place and continued to press his jaded troops to 
the attack. By four o'clock the L^nion forces had been driven 
nearly two miles backward, into the angle between Lick Creek 
and the river. The left flank resting upon the ridge just be- 
low the landing, was strongly posted and covered by a battery 
of some forty guns of all calibres which Colonel Webster of 
Grant's staff, had posted and manned with volunteer artillery 

* Buell is said to have renewed tliis conversation several days afterwards 
and by way of reproach said to Grant : " You hadn't steamboats enough to 
carry away 10,000 men." " Well," replied Grant, " there wouldn't have been 
more than that many left by the time I sliould have got ready to go." 



LIFE OF TLYSSES S. GRANT. 81 

men. The right rested on the creek a mile and a half away, 
covering the road by which Wallace was expected to arrive. 
Two gun-boats had taken their stations opposite the mouth 
of a deep ravine, behind which our troops were posted. In 
this position the national army received and repelled again 
and again the final attacks of the enemy ; but again and ao-ain 
did Beauregard, Bragg, Hardee, Polk and Breckenridge lead 
their soldiers to the assault. They did all that human nature 
could do. Webster's artillery, poured out its ready canister, 
the gun-boats swept the rebel flanks, while the broken but 
still undaunted regiments of the Union delivered their with- 
ering fire. Before night closed upon the scene, Beauregard 
saw that to struggle longer could have no other result than to 
swell the list of his killed and wounded. 

With his usual sagacity. Grant rode towards the right and 
told Sherman the story of Donelson — how the armies had 
fi)ught till both were nearly exhausted, and how he had seen 
that the next blow struck would win the battle. It was too 
late and his troops were too much jaded to take the initiative 
then, but he ordered Sherman to attack at dawn in the morn- 
ing.* 

During the night. Nelson, together with most of McCook's 
and Crittenden's divisions of Buell's army, nearly twenty 
thousand men in all, arrived upon the field, and took position 
along the left of the line of battle. Lewis Wallace, after 
marching and countermarching all day, within five miles of 
the field, also made his appearance at nightfall after Grant 
had superintended the re-adjustment of his line, assigned the 
new divisions to their stations, and visited the different Com- 
manders giving each his orders to advance at early dawn. Both 
hosts slept upon their arms. The wounded remained uncared 
for except by Providence ; the dead leaves of the forest in 

*From " The Campaigns of Gen. Forrest," it appears that Beauregard was 
entirely ignorant of Buell's arrival upon the field, and even when informed 
hy Forrest of this fact, refused to believe it. It seems that he had received 
intelligence that Buell was moving with his whole force upon Florence, and 
therefore could not understand the possibility of a junction between Buell and 
Grant. P. 135-6. 



82 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

which they lay, took fire, but shortly afterwards a rain storm 
broke upon the field and extinguished the flames. At inter- 
vals of ten or fifteen minutes, throughout the night, the gun- 
boats threw their ponderous shells into the enemy's camp. 
Early on the morning of April 7th, the national troops with 
renewed confidence and vigor, began the battle afresh. The 
divisions of McCook, Crittenden and Nelson formed the left; 
Hurlbut's, Sherman's and McClernand's divisions, between 
which Wallace's division and the remnant of Prentiss' had 
been distributed, held the center; and Lewis AYallace's division 
the extreme right. In this order they moved out to the fight. 
The rebels had not heard of Buell's arrival, and yet they had 
not ventured to attack. The confident advance of the Union 
army, and the steady rattle of musketry soon convinced them 
that the tide of victory had turned for good and all. They 
resisted stubbornly, disputed every ravine, and wooded knoll, 
and seemed determined for honor's sake, if not for victory, to 
hold what they had won ; but the splendid battle tactics of 
Buell, the gallantry of his magnificent army, the steady cour- 
age of Lewis Wallace's division, and as much as all other 
things combined, the keen anxiety of Hurlbut's, McClernand's, 
and Sherman's gallant men to wipe out the misfortunes of yes- 
terday, carried the Union flags triumphantly forward. Beau- 
regard made desperate efibrts to advance his right, strongly 
formed and supported by his batteries, and although he 
cheeked for awhile the advance of McCook, Crittenden and 
Nelson's new and well drilled regiments, he was soon com- 
pelled to give way in order to save his line of retreat. Sher- 
man, INIcClernand and Lewis Wallace had pressed forward 
with such ardor as to crowd back the rebel left beyond all 
hope of recovery. This relieved the pressure from Buell's 
front, and enabled him to renew the onset successfully. The 
rebels fought well, but at no time did they check any con- 
siderable part of the Union line. Grant, being Buell's senior, 
was in command of the entire army, and spared no effort to 
make his victory complete. He exposed himself fully when- 
ever occasion required it ; and at one time he took command 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 83 

in person of a wavering regiment and led it forward to the 
assault of the enemy's line. Shiloh Church was regained, 
the lost guns were recaptured, and others were wrested 
from the enemy. After this, the resistance grew weaker and 
weaker at every step. By the middle of the afternoon the 
rebels were in fuU retreat and fighting only for safety. They 
retired sullenly but covered by Breckenridge's division which 
had seen less fighting than the rest of the army, their retreat 
did not become a rout. Rain had again set in, the roads were 
bad, and all parts of the army were much fatigued by march- 
ing and fighting. Nothing more could be done. Grant was 
compelled reluctantly to rest upon his victory, but sent two 
brigades of Wood's division with a part of Sherman's to 
watch the enemy and press his retreat. 

The rebels in this battle had intended to destroy Grant's 
army before Buell could reach it ; they had fought with great 
desperation, without much effort at grand tactics or combina- 
tion, resting their entire hopes upon superior weight and im- 
pulse to drive Grant into the river. It has been claimed that 
had Johnston not been killed, or had Beauregard renewed the 
action after five o'clock, his plan must have been successful. 
Others have asserted that Grant's army would have been de- 
stroyed but for Buell's timely arrival. But Grant, Sherman, 
IMcPherson, Hurlbut, McClernand with every officer of spirit 
under their command have asserted over and over again, that 
the rebels could not force their last position, though they 
tried it with all the valor of desperation.* They had done 
their best, and even admit in their official reports that their 
progress was stayed in the full tide of victory not by night, 
for still one hour of daylight remained when their last assault 
was made, but by the determined resistance of Grant's army, 
aided by the fire of the gun-boats. A careful study of all the 

*This view of the case is confirmed by "Forrest's Campaigns." That rig- 
orous figliter denies the efficiency of the fire from the gun-boats, and shows 
that the desperate fighting of the Union forces, aided by the difficult ground 
in their front, was the cause of Beauregard's failure to carry Grant's last 
position. 



84 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAKT. 

ofBcial reports, both rebel and national, leaves scarcely room 
to doubt that had Lewis Wallace arrived upon the field by 
four o'clock, Grant would liave gained a complete victory 
before nightfall. Buell's arrival was opportune, and when 
brought into action his troops behaved admirably, rendering 
that secure which fortune might otherwise have left in doubt ; 
but it will be remembered to the credit of Grant as long as 
fortitude and steadflist courage are looked upon as virtues, 
that he had not despaired of beating the rebels when the tide 
of defeat seemed to have set heaviest against him.* 

The Union losses, including those of Buell's army, taken 
from official returns, amounted to about 1,750 killed, 7,400 
wounded, and 3,200 missing, in all 12,350, while the rebels 
report their losses at 1,728 killed, 8,012 wounded, 959 miss- 
ing, total, 10,699. Omitting the missing on both sides, the 
rebels lost nearly six hundred more men than Grant. This 
simple fact of itself ought to put to rest forever the story that 
Grant was surprised. It is not too much to say that no army 
fallen upon by surprise ever fought such a battle as that of 
Shiloh. 

* Shortly after the battle of Shiloh, General Grant telegraphed to Halleck : 
" To Slierman, more than to any other man is due the salvation of the army." 
Halleck immediately sent a message to Washington ignoring Grant entirely, 
but using his very words in commending Sherman. These words from Grant 
were a graceful and well merited compliment to a gallant subordinate ; but their 
use by Halleck was an indirect and treacherous blow at Grant's reputation. 



CHAPTER X. 

grant's advance in sight of CORINTH — HALLECK ARRIVES AND 
ASSUMES COMMAND — THE TROOPS DISPIRITED BY HIS POLICY — THE 
ARMY REORGANIZED — SIEGE OF CORINTH — GRANT IN UNMERITED 
DISGRACE — ADVISES HALLECK TO ATTACK — IS REBUKED — ASKS FOR 
LEAVE OF ABSENCE — SHERMAN COUNSELS HIM TO REMAIN^— DIS- 
ASTROUS RESULTS OF HALLECK's POLICY — CORINTH EVACUATED — 
HALLECK DISPERSES THE ARMY AND GOES TO WASHINGTON AS 
GENERAL-IN-CHIEF — OFFERS COMMAND TO COLONEL ALLEN — GRANT 
RESTORED — BATTLE OF lUKA — BATTLE OF CORINTH — GRANT'S OR- 
DER OF CONGRATULATION — SUMMARY — GRANT's GENERALSHIP — 
BUELL AND ROSECRANS REWARDED FOR HIS VICTORIES. 

It has been 8een how two armies, whose combined force 
could not be far from seventy- five thousand men, united upon 
the field of Shiloh ; and how on the second day, they swept 
Beauregard'^ shattered battalions in confusion and dismay 
from the field. Everything was now in our favor. The 
rebel leaders had carried out their policy of concentration 
with skill, and had hurled their united forces into battle with 
frantic vigor, but all to no purpose. The Union host had but 
to press their advantage to carry their victorious colors to the 
remotest corners of the South-west. Grant saw this, and had 
he been left in untrammeled command, would have give.n the 
rebels no place of rest. 

His advance under Sherman hafl pressed to within sight of 
Corinth, while the main body of the jaded army was reform- 
ing its disordered ranks, burying the dead and gaining a par- 
tial respite from the fatigues of battle and the march. At 
this time, the 9th of April, Major-General Halleck appeared 
upon the scene, and immediately assumed command. The 
army thenceforth made no movement towards Corinth, except 



86 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

for the purpose of entrenching. The musket and carbine 
were discarded, while the shovel and axe were in constant 
requisition. Grant was again practically removed from all 
control of troops, but this time under the pretext of making 
him " second in command." The army was reorganized, and 
called the army of the Mississippi. It was divided into a 
right, left, center and reserve, Buell's force being made the 
nucleus of organization. Thomas commanded the right, com- 
posed mostly of Grant's troops ; Pope commanded the center, 
made up principally of the troops which he had brought from 
Island No. 10 ; Buell commanded the left, while McClernand 
commanded the reserve. Re-enforcements and materials of 
all kinds were hurried forward from the North, with bound- 
less liberality, for the country had been taught to believe 
through Halleck's spiritless policy and the persistent misrep- 
resentations which had been circulated far and wide against 
Grant and his troops, that Shiloh had been a disastrous de- 
feat instead of a splendid victory. Six precious weeks were 
squandered, in what Halleck, with ridiculous pedantry, called 
the " Siege of Corinth." During all this time the rebels 
made no show of advancing, but remained quietly in their 
entrenchments, studying how they might abandon them with- 
out appearing to have done so. The national troops, now in- 
creased to one hundred and thirty thousand in number, were 
converted into ditchers instead of being used as soldiers. 
Every foot of ground, between Shiloh meeting-house and 
the rebel works, was laboriously shoveled behind the army, in 
order that it might get within sight of fortifications which it 
found empty, or guarded only by Quaker guns. Fortunately 
for his reputation. Grant, as before stated, was permitted to 
take no part In this business. "When orders were given in his 
presence. It was either done in a whisper, or the person receiv- 
ing them was led aside so that Grant should not hear what 
was said. Upon one occasion he ventured to advise an attack, 
but Halleck scouted his advice, and Intimated too plainly to 
be misunderstood, that when his opinions were thought to 
be sufficiently Important they would be duly asked for. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 87 

During this entire campaign, or " siege," Grant's position 
was a false one. In which, Injustice was continually inflicted 
upon him. He was looked upon by everybody as being in 
disgrace — and therefore asked for a leave of absence In order 
that he might escape from unmerited obloquy. It Is said that 
for a time he thought seriously of resigning, and did ask for 
a leave of absence that he might give Halleck a chance to get 
rid of him. Sherman counseled him to remain, and for- 
tunately for the country his counsel prevailed. 

This volume Is not concerned with what Halleck might 
have done, after, or during the siege of Corinth, but did not 
do, for that would swell its bulk beyond all proportion. The 
policy of dispersion, or " pepper-box strategy," as It has been 
derisively but not inaptly called, which he Inaugurated after 
the evacuation of Corinth — sending Buell towards Chatta- 
nooga, and burying Grant's army In the towns, villages, cross- 
roads and elaborately entrenched camps of Northern Mississippi 
and West Tennessee, demands the severest condemnation, for It 
lost to our cause the advantage of Its past successes, delayed 
and endangered those that remained yet to be gained, and In- 
flicted upon the country a long series of disgraceful delays 
and indecisive combats. Neither can we do more than make 
a passing allusion to the campaign of General Mitchell Into 
Northern Alabama, ending with the occupation of Huntsvllle 
and Decatur, about the time of the Corinth campaign. 

Shortly after Buell had been detached, Halleck went to 
Washington, for the purpose of entering upon the duties 
of General-in-Chief, to which position he had been called by 
the President, but before starting, he shot a Parthian arrow 
at Grant — by oflering the command of the army to Colonel 
Robert Allen, chief supervising quartermaster In the West, an 
educated soldier and an able man. It was only when Allen pos- 
itively declined, that the command was restored to Grant, but 
with still restricted authority. He was ordered to garrison a 
large number of points and to send re-enforcements to Buell, 
In doing which he was thrown upon the defensive. But while 
Halleck was thus scattering the national forces, the rebels had 



88 LIFE OF ULYSSES S.GRANT. 

been taught a lesson, wliicli made them concentrate all their 
available means, east of the Mississippi. Price and Van Dorn 
were ordered to remove their troops from the trans-Missis- 
sippi department, and to form a junction with Beauregard's 
army at Tupelo. Bragg had already crossed into Alabama 
and Tennessee, in pursuit of Buell, whom he ultimately com- 
pelled to fall back to the Ohio River, fighting him finally at 
Perryville — and then retreating to Murfreesboro. 

On the 10th of September, Price having reached Northern 
Mississippi with his army of about twelve thousand men, 
started towards luka, where he arrived on the 19th, having 
driven in small detachments of the national troops from Jacinto 
and Chewalla. He made a feint olf following Bragg in his 
northern march, in the hope that Grant would pursue him, 
and thus leave Corinth an easy prey to Van Dorn. But 
Grant, whose head-quarters were at Jackson, Tennessee, was 
too sagacious to fall into such a trap. Knowing from his scouts 
that Van Dorn could not reach Corinth for four or five days 
yet, he determined to crush Price by sending out a heavy force 
under Ord and Rosecrans, who had succeeded Pope.* He 
therefore threw Ord towards luka, on the north side of the 
railroad, re-enforcing him by Ross' brigade from Bolivar, 
bringing his force up to about five thousand men, and directed 
Rosecrans, with Hamilton's and Stanley's divisions, and ]Miz- 
ner's cavalry, about nine thousand men in all, the bulk of the 
force from Corinth, to move towards luka by the way of Ja- 
cinto and Fulton — hoping thus to cut off the rebel retreat 
and to concentrate a force sufficient to overwhelm Price. This 
combined movement commenced at an early hour on the 18th 
of September, and although the distances to be overcome 
did not exceed in either case thirty miles, the rebels discov- 
ered it before it was fairly executed. For some reason not 
satisfactorily explained, Rosecrans fiailed to occupy the Fulton 
road. In addition to this, it was exceedingly difficult to com- 
municate between the different columns or between them and 
Grant's head-quarters, on account of the heavily wooded 
*Most of Pope's troops had been alreaJy sent back to Missouri. 



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BELMONT, DONELSON, SHILOH, CORINTH. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 89 

country and intricate roads. Hence tlie junction of Ord and 
Eosecrans did not take place till after the latter had had a 
desperate and only partially successful engagement with Price. 
This took place on the 19th, in front of luka. Eosecrans' 
troops fought well, but owing to the exceedingly difficult na- 
ture of the ground, he was not able to bring his whole com- 
mand into action. The rebels were finally defeated after a 
sanguinary battle, and under cover of night reti-eated rapidly 
southward by the Fulton road. Their loss is stated by Pol- 
lard the rebel historian " at about eight hundred killed and 
wounded," not counting over a thousand prisoners left in the 
hands of the victors. Hamilton and Stanley went in pursuit 
of the retreating rebels, but did not again come up with 
them. 

On the 22d, Grant ordered the pursuit to be discontinued, 
and directed Eosecrans to return to Corinth, where he arrived 
on the 26th. Ord was sent to Bolivar, and Hurlbut in the 
direction of Pocahontas. Price, by a wide circuit, joined 
Van Dorn at Eipley. The united force then moved in the 
direction of Pocahontas. 

On the 2d of October, Yan Dorn and Price, with three 
divisions advanced thence towards Corinth by the way of 
Chewalla. 

Shortly after Halleck left for Washington, Grant, seeing 
that the old works were too extensive to be held by any rea- 
sonable force, directed the construction of an inner and much 
shorter line of entrenchments at Corinth, and by the time the 
rebels made their appearance in front of these works they 
were sufficiently near completion to be used for defensive pur- 
poses. Eosecrans had withdrawn his outposts upon the first 
appearance of the enemy and formed his line over a mile in 
front of the fortifications. Stanley held the left with a brigade 
and a battery, advanced still farther to the left. Davies occu- 
pied the center, and Hamilton the right, with MIzner's cavalry, 
posted where occasion required it. The rebels advancing on 
the Chewalla road, soon drove in Stanley's advanced brigade, 
which, being supported by another, made head for a time. But 



90 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the rebels, continually developing their front, soon hotly en- 
gaged Davies' division also, and finally the entire line. Push- 
ing their attack with great vigor, they finally compelled Rose- 
crans to fall back with the loss of two guns, and to occupy the 
fortifications. He was not; again attacked that night. The 
comparative ease with Avhich this advantage was gained led 
Van Dorn to believe that he had achieved a great victory, and 
in emulation of Pillow's example, he sent to Eichmond a hasty 
and exultant dispatch, announcing the capture of Corinth. 
But like Pillow again, his exultation was destined to end in 
bitter disappointment. 

At an early hour on the morning of the 4th, the action was 
renewed by the rebels, who opened upon the Union lines with 
their batteries, and at half-past nine o'clock. Price assaulted 
the Union center with desperate determination. A storm of 
canister and grape was poured upon the rebel columns, but 
with only partial effect. Cheered on by their gallant but 
mistaken officers, they renewed the attack, now become gen- 
eral, and soon succeeded in breaking Davies' division and in 
forcing the head of their column into the town. But Rose- 
crans concentrated a heavy fire of artillery upon them, and 
pushing forward the Tenth Ohio, and Fifth ISIinnesota regi- 
ments, followed closely by Sullivan's brigade, succeeded in 
driving the rebels beyond the works and in re-establishing 
Davies' hne. In the meanwhile Van Dorn had formed the 
right of his army into column of attack, and under cover of 
a heavy skirmish line, was leading it in person to the assault 
of the Union left. But Rosecrans was ready on that side 
also. Stanley's division and the heavy guns of Battery Rob- 
inet, manned by the veterans of the First Regular Infantry, 
made answer to the rebel musketry, and with round shot, 
shell, grape and canister, played dire havoc among the ad- 
vancing troops. But still they held their forward course till 
within fifty yards of our works. Here they received a deadly 
rifle fire, and after struggling bravely for a minute to face 
it, they were compelled to fall back. Again the rebel lead- 
ers led their men forward, to the very ditches and parapets of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 91 

the defenses, but again were they bloodily repulsed ; this time, 
however, to be followed by the gallant soldiers of Ohio and 
Missouri, who, seeing the enemy falter, poured over the works 
and drove them routed and broken, back to the woods from 
which they had advanced. The battle had spent its fury, the 
rebels were no longer able to make head, and lost no time in 
withdrawing their disorganized battalions to a place of safety. 
They left dead, upon the field, 1,420 officers and men, and 
more than 5,000 wounded, besides losing 2,248 prisoners, 
41 colors and 2 guns. The next day Eosecrans, re-enforced by 
McPherson's brigade, began the pursuit, but he had lost 
eighteen hours and could not regain the advantage which had 
thus escaped. The following extract from Grant's order of 
congratulation tells the re§t of the story : 

" The enemy chose his own time and place of attack, and knowing the 
troops of the West as he does, and with great facilities of knowing their 
numbers, never would have made the attempt, except with a superior 
force numerically. But for the undaunted bravery of officers and sol- 
diers, who have yet to learn defeat, the efforts of the enemy must have 
proven successful. 

" Whilst one division of the army, under Major-General Eosecrans, 
was resisting and repelling the onslaught of the rebel hosts at Corinth, 
another from Bolivar, under Major-General Hurlbut, was marching 
upon the enemy's rear, driving in their pickets and cavalry, and attract- 
ing the attention of a large force of infantry and artillery. On the 
following day, under Major-General Ord, these forces advanced with 
unsurpassed gallantry, driving the enemy back across the Hatchie, over 
ground where it is almost incredible that a superior force should be 
driven by an inferior, capturing two of the batteries, (eight guns,) 
many hundred small arms, and several hundred prisoners. 

" To those two divisions of the army all praise is due, and will be 
awarded by a grateful country. 

" Between them there should bo, and I trust are, the warmest, bonds 
of brotherhood. Each was risking life in the same cause, and, on this 
occasion, risking it also to save and assist the other. No troops could 
do more than these separate armies. Each did all possible for it to do 
in the places assigned it. 

" As in all great battles, so in this, it becomes our fate to mourn the 
loss of many brave and faithful officers and soldiers, who have given up 
their lives as a sacrifice for a great principle. The nation mourns for 
them." 



92 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

In this campaign of fifteen days, although weakened by 
detachments sent to Buell and hampered by imperative in- 
structions from Halleck to hold the points which had been 
garrisoned under his orders, Grant had fought and won two 
battles, against superior forces of the enemy, and had shown 
his capacity, if permitted to concentrate his forces and leave 
conquered territory to take care of itself, to assume the offen- 
sive with an ample force to sweep every vestige of rebel power 
from Mississippi. This is the only period in his military ca- 
reer when he was compelled to receive attack rather than give 
it, and nothing could have been more galling to his feelings. 
His combinations were made with great promptitude, his or- 
ders were issued with clearness and precision, and although 
at times they were not so well executed as they should have 
been, they resulted in gaining substantial and valuable suc- 
cesses for the national cause. The resolution, readiness and 
perfect comprehension of topographical details, including the 
strategic relation of important points, exhibited by Grant in 
this campaign, show him to have been, even at that day, a Gen- 
eral of the highest order, and yet Rosecrans received the re- 
ward for the victories gained, by being sent to relieve Buell 
of the command of the largest and best appointed army then 
in the West. 

A full and detailed history of the operations in West Ten- 
nessee and Northern Mississippi, from August to October, 
would of itself make a volume of excitins; interest. 



CHAPTER XI, 



GRANT ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE — 
ORGANIZATIONS AND RE-EQUIPMENT OF TROOPS PERFECTED — NECES- 
SITY OF OPENING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER — HALLECK OPPOSES THE 
SCHEMES OP m'CLERNAND — m'CLERNAND ORDERED TO ILLINOIS TO 
RAISE A NEW ARMY — DISPOSITIONS OF GRANT'S ARMY — DISSATIS- 
FACTION OF THE REBEL GOVERNMENT — PEMBERTON ASSIGNED TO 
COMMAND OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MISSISSIPPI — GRANT ON THE 
MOVE — SKIRMISHING — PEMBERTON ABANDONS HIS CAMP NEAR 

ABBEVILLE — MOVEMENTS IN NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI M'CLER- 

NAND'S EXPEDITION — ORDERS DIRECTING SHERMAN TO MOVE 
AGAINST VICKSBURG — COLONEL MURPHY SURRENDERS HOLLY 
SPRINGS — ARMY ENCAMPED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE TALLA- 
HATCHIE — HALF RATIONS — SYSTEM OF FORAGING — SPECIMEN 
CHRISTMAS DINNER — GRANT'S ORDER DIVIDING HIS COMMAND INTO 
CORPS — ESTABLISHES HIS HEAD-QUARTERS AT MEMPHIS — HIS CONFI- 
DENCE IN Sherman's generalship — Sherman's operations — dem- 
onstrations AGAINST HAINES' BLUFF — m'CLERNAND CAPTURES 
ARKANSAS POST — m'CLERNAND's INSUBORDINATION — GRANT'S MAG- 
NANIMITY — GRANT AT YOUNG'S POINT-— ADVISES THE GOVERNMENT 
TO UNITE THE MILITARY DEPARTMENTS IN THE WEST. 

Ox the 25th of October, 1862, in compliance with orders 
from Washington, General Grant assumed command of the 
Department of the Tennessee, which he immediately divided 
into four districts, allotting one division of troops to each. 
Sherman was assigned to the District of Memphis and the 
first division ; Hurlbut to the District of Jackson and the 
second division ; C. S. Hamilton to the District of Corinth 
and the third division ; and Davies to the District of Columbus 
with the fourth division. 

The rebels having been defeated and again thrown upon 
the defensive at nearly every point in the West, Grant now 
determined to take the offensive as soon as the necessary 



94 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

authority could be obtained. He made every effort in his 
power to prepare his command for an active campaign. Or- 
ganizaions were perfected, the troops were re-clothed, trans- 
portation was diminished, and baggage of every sort was 
reduced to a minimum. 

The entire country, and specially the North-west, had by 
this time come to regard the opening of the ^Mississippi River, 
as a military necessity, not only for the purpose of providing 
a commercial highway to the sea, but as the means of severing 
the Confederacy and affording the national armies a base of 
operations against the vital points of the rebel territory. 
Grant had long since recognized this necessity, and as soon as 
his army had been relieved of its immediate troubles, he set 
about devising the means of carrying forward the work so 
effectively begun. But while he was w^orking in the field, 
with the legitimate means which the Government had placed 
in his hands — a movement had been put on foot in Washing- 
ton, by one of his ambitious lieutenants, having the same 
object in view. General McClernand had grown tired of 
serving in a subordinate capacity, or as he expressed it in his 
own figurative language — "furnishing brains for Grant." 
He therefore obtained a leave of absence and went to Wash- 
ington, where he laid before the President a plan for captur- 
ing Vicksburg, and operating eastward in Mississippi. Having 
formally proposed this movement, he proceeded upon parlia- 
mentary precedent and requested the command of an expedi- 
tion for the purpose of carrying his plan into effect. The 
President and Secretary of War, seem to have approved the 
plan and listened to the request for an independent command 
with decided favor, but General Halleck opposed it, upon the 
ground that it would necessarily assume proportions of such 
magnitude as to pass beyond the limits of a secondary opera- 
tion, and urged that it should properly be given to Grant, 
within- whose department it would fall. Both sides were 
stubborn ; but as Halleck at that time was believed by the 
country to possess great military capacity, his opinion pre- 
vailed so far, at least, as to induce the President not to inter- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 95 

fere with Grant's army. But he ordered McClernand to 
Illinois for the purpose of raising a new army, with the prom- 
ise that when it should be ready to take the field, it should 
be charged with the duty of opening the Mississippi River, 
and be commanded by McClernand in person. 

In the meantime. Grant had collected the available part of 
his command, now designated as the Thirteenth Army Corps, 
at LaGrange and Grand Junction, important points on the 
Memphis and Charleston Railroad, near the northern border 
of Mississippi, and had ordered Sherman, then commanding 
at Memphis, to march with his movable force towards AYyatt, 
on the Tallahatchie, for the purpose of menacing the enemy's 
left and forming a junction with the main body of the army 
under McPherson and C. S. Hamilton. Expeditions com- 
posed of cavalry and infantry, had already scouted the country 
in the direction of Ripley, Lamar, and Holly Springs, di'iving 
back Van Dorn, and giving Grant a thorough understanding 
of the enemy's position and force. The rebel government at 
Richmond appears to have had its confidence much shaken in 
the leaders of the rebel cause in the South-west. Bragg had 
been driven from Kentucky with heavy loss ; Beauregard had 
thrown up his command in disgust, and retired to the interior 
to restore his shattered health ; while Lovell, Price, and Van 
Dorn had been defeated at luka and Corinth. In order to 
repair these damages as far as possible and to raise the hopes 
of the rebels, Davis assigned Pemberton, a northern renegade, 
to the chief command of the department of Mississippi. 

Grant did not delay his movements an hour longer than 
necessary, but pushed forward with great celerity and vigor, 
reaching Holly Springs on the 29th of November, and the 
Tallahatchie — where he formed a junction with Sherman — on 
the 1st of December. During this advance from LaGrange, 
Hovey and Washburn, under Grant's instructions, crossed 
the Mississippi at Helena and moved out towards Grenada 
for the purpose of menacing the rebel communications and 
rear. Under the influence of these combined movements, 
Pemberton abandoned his strongly entrenched camp on the 



yb LIFE or ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

south side of the Tallahatchie near Abbeville, and fell back 
rapidly, closely pressed by the cavalry under Colonel Dickey. 
Sharp skirmishes occurred at Water Valley and Sprino-dale, 
and a combat of some magnitude took place at CofFeeville be- 
tween the rebel rear guard, consisting of a part of Lovell's 
corps, and Dickey's mounted force, and although the latter 
was worsted, it was only after a well-contested struggle of 
several hours, during which Colonels Dickey, Hatch and 
McCullough (the latter of whom was killed), handled their 
commands with skill and bravery. The rebel force composed 
of infantry, cavalry and artillery, were in great preponder- 
ance ; and as the national infantry, owing to bad roads, had 
not been able to keep up with the advance, Dickey was com- 
pelled to fall back. He was sent immediately, however, to- 
wards Okolona and Tupelo, for the purpose of breaking the 
Oliio and jNIobile Eailroad. 

But the overland movement towards Jackson, had already 
been paralyzed by the winter rains which had set in some 
days before. The roads in Northern Mississippi naturally 
bad, had become almost impassable for an army accompanied 
by wagons and artillery. This thickly wooded region, cut 
up by streams with broad alluvial bottoms, presents even 
under the most favorable circumstances, an extremely difficult 
theatre fur military operations. Grant was not slow in reach- 
ing the conviction that further operations in that direction 
were out of the question. He had also received information 
that the President and Secretary of War, were about to pre- 
cipitate the movement of McClernand's expedition against 
Vicksburg — in spite of Halleck's opposition— and having re- 
ceived permission from the General-in-Chief, on the 8th of 
December, he issued the following orders to Sherman : 

" You -will proceed witli as little delay as possible to [Memphis, Tenn., 
taking with you one division of your present command. On your ar- 
rival at IMcmphis, you will assume command of all the troops there and 
that portion of General Curtis' force at present east of the Mississippi 
River, and organize them into brigades and divisions in your own way. 
As soon as possible, move with them down the river, to the vicinity of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 97 

Vicksburg, and -n-ith the co-operation of the gun-boat fleet, under com- 
mand of Flag-officer Porter, proceed to the reduction of that phace, in 
such manner as circumstances and your own judgment may dictate. 

" The amount of rations, forage, land transportation, etc., neces- 
sary to take will be left entirely with yourself. The Quartermaster 
at St. Louis, will be instructed to send you transportation for thirty 
thousand men. Should you still find yourself deficient, your quarter- 
master will be authorized to make up the deficiency from such trans- 
ports as may come into the port of Memphis. 

" On arriving at Memphis, put yourself in communication with Ad- 
miral Porter, and arrange with him for his co-operation. 

" Inform me at the earliest practicable day of the time when you will 
embark, and such plans as may then be matured. I will hold the forces 
here in readiness to co-operate with you in such manner as the move- 
ments of the enemy may make necessary. 

" Leave the District of Memphis in the command of an efficient offi- 
cer, and with a garrison of four regiments of infantry, the siege-guns, 
and whatever cavalry may be there." 

While this movement was in progress, and the force under 
Grant at rest on account of the heavy rains, the rebel cavalry 
under Van Dorn, assumed the offensive, and marching rapidly 
beyond the left flank of Grant's army, struck the railroad at 
Holly Springs, captured the place and destroyed a large 
quantity of stores. This movement was successful, through an 
unfortunate array of disadvantageous circumstances. Grant's 
cavalry as already mentioned, had been detached to break up 
another railroad, and although they crossed Van Dorn's line 
of march, just as he was passing out of Pontotoc, they were 
too much fatigued and weakened by long marches, to make 
rapid pursuit. A brigade of infantry which was sent by 
Grant to re-enforce the garrison at Holly Springs, failed to 
reach it in time, owing to the precipitate haste with which 
Colonel Murphy, the ranking oflScer, surrendered his com- 
mand, amounting to nearly two thousand men. This officer 
had ample warning of Van Dorn's approach, and with the 
force at hand, could have easily defended the place, had he 
shown the least enterprise or soldierly spirit. Having acted 
in a similar manner at luka, he was disgracefully dismissed 
for his conduct by Grant, a few days thereafter. The rest 



98 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

of Van Dorn's campaign was a failure, for he was held at bay 
bj all of the little garrisons which he undertook in succession 
to capture, and was finally compelled to make a wide circuit 
and return towards Grenada. 

This interruption of communication with his base of sujiplies, 
gave Grant an opportunity to withdraw from his advanced po- 
sition in North Mississippi, under the appearance of compul- 
sion. He had already seen that the Mississippi River would 
afford a line of operations which could not be cut by raiders, 
and which led directly to the principal objective point in the 
theater of operations ; and that he ought, therefore, to lose no 
time in transferring his entire army by that route to the imme- 
diate vicinity of Vicksburg. It was vain to hope that the rebels 
would allow that place to fall by a coup de maioi, and unless 
it should so flill, its natural and artificial strength would nec- 
essarily require a large force and much time to overcome it. 
These considerations, and as has already been stated, the ex- 
treme difficulty of continuing the movement towards Jackson, 
together with the natural anxiety to direct in person the main 
body of his army, influenced him to remove his head-quarters 
to jNIemphis, and soon after to the neighborhood of Vicksburg. 
The army was slowly withdrawn to the north side of the 
Tallahatchie, where it was encamped and thoroughly taught 
the lesson of making war support war. The interruption of 
railway communication with the rear, deprived the army of 
its usual supplies, but Grant had given up the idea of treat- 
ing the rebels in such a manner, as not to exasperate them. 
He therefore issued orders putting the army on "half rations" 
and requiring it to live off the country. The country being 
neither populous nor highly cultivated and having already 
been marched over by two armies and various detachments, 
was regarded as unable to furnish support to so large a force 
for any length of time. But under the thorough system 
adopted by McPherson, Hamilton, Logan, Denver, McArthur 
and others, aided by the enterprising men of their commands, 
an abundance of corn, bacon, poultry, pork and beef was ob- 
tained. All parts of the upper Tallahatchie and Cold "Water 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 99 

vallles were ransacked and foraged ; the mills were set to 
work and kept running night and day by detachments from 
various brigades and divisions ; and although they were neither 
numerous nor large enough to keep the army provided with 
a full supply of meal, the men were not long in filling up the 
deficiency. In the lack of bread, they made hominy. This 
was done by burning hickory wood to ashes, leaching them 
and then soaking the uocracked corn in the lye till its skin 
could be easily removed. After this it was only necessary to 
boil the hominy till tender, thus making a healthy, nutritious 
and agreeable article of food. On Christmas day, McPher- 
son's pioneer corps sent him as a specimen of " half rations," 
an admirable dinner for himself and stafi*, made up of roast 
turkeys, chickens, meat pies, well baked wheaten bread, corn 
bread, cakes, hominy, and stewed fruits. 

The irregularities consequent upon the system of foraging, 
were not conducive to a high state of discipline, but as the 
necessities of the case were somewhat pressing, breaches of 
regulation could not be severely punished. Logan, with his 
usual ingenuity, forbade his men to burn fence rails, but al- 
lowed them to use as much dry, twelve foot split wood as they 
could find corded up outside the fields. He also forbade them 
to forage, except under direction of officers, but they could not 
entirely resist the temptation. Logan was vigilant and active, 
however, and caused his Provost Marshal to arrest all men 
caught bringing in hogs or cattle on individual account, and 
pen them up together till discipline had been vindicated. As 
a matter of course the accumulated supplies thus obtained 
were divided by the proper staflP officers, equally among the 
troops. These instances serve to indicate the general rule 
followed in the different divisions, and to show how Grant 
was accustomed to leave subordinate details to subordinate 
commanders, subject only to general orders and regulations 
of the army. The Commanding General of an army, may un- 
dertake to regulate the details of duty in the field of battle, 
and in camp, for every subdivision of his force, or he may 
announce general principles and rules, and leave the details 



100 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

of tactics and administration to his Lieutenants. The former 
course necessarily converts him into a martinet, annoys and 
harasses himself and staff as well as the Generals below him, 
and seldom accomplishes any important result; while the latter 
leaves him free to attend to the more serious business of 
his office, and confines the corps, division, brigade and regi- 
mental commanders, more particularly to the duties which 
concern them. Grant had at this time but two regular offi- 
cers on his staff, and only three others within his whole com- 
mand, and he would therefore have been compelled to adopt 
the latter policy, had he not had the sagacity to see it was 
better of itself. 

On the 22d of December, 1862, Grant issued from his 
head-quarters, at Holly Springs, the following order : 

" By direction of the President, the troops in this Department, in- 
cluding those from the Department of the Missouri, operating on the 
Llississippi River, are hereby divided into four army-corps as follows: 

" 1. The troops composing the Ninth Division, Brigadier-General G. 
W. Morgan commanding ; the Tenth Division, Brigadier-General A. J. 
Smith commanding ; and all other troops operating on the Mississippi 
River below Memphis, not included in the Fifteenth Army-Corps, will 
constitute the Thirteenth Army Corps, under the command of Major- 
General John A. McClernand. 

" 2. The Fifth Division, Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith com- 
manding ; the division from Helena, Arkansas, commanded by Brigadier- 
General F. Steele ; and the force in the ' District of Memphis,' will 
constitute the Fifteenth Army-Corps, and be commanded by Major- 
General W. T. Sherman. 

" 3. The Sixth Division, Brigadier-General J. l\Ic Arthur commanding; 
the Seventh Division, Brigadier-General I. F. Quimby commanding; the 
Eighth Division, Brigadier-General L. F. Ross commanding; the Second 
Brigade of cavalry. Colonel A. L. Lee commanding ; and the troops in 
the District of Columbus, commanded by Brigadier-General Davies, and 
those in the district of Jackson, commanded by Brigadier-General Sul- 
livan, will constitute the Sixteenth Army-Corps, and be commanded by 
Major-General S. A. Hurlbut. 

"4. The First Division, Brigadier-General J. "W. Denver commanding; 
the Third Division, Brigadier-General John A. Logan commanding ; the 
Fourth Division, Brigadier-General J. G. Lauman commanding; the 
First Brigade of cavalry. Colonel B. H. Grierson commanding; and 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 101 

the forces in the District of Corinth, commanded by Brigadier-General 
G. M. Dodge, will constitute the Seventeenth Army-Corps, and be 
commanded by Major-General J. B. McPherson. 

" District commanders will send consolidated returns of their forces 
to these head-quarters, as well as to army-corps head-quarters, and will, 
for the present, receive orders from Department head-quarters." 

Soon after the issuing of the foregoing order, Grant went 
in person to Memphis, where he estabhshed his head-quar- 
ters, and exerted himself to the utmost to prepare for the 
work before him. Having great confidence in Sherman's 
courage and generalship, he left him untrammeled in the first 
descent upon Vicksburg, giving only general instructions, and 
leaving him to carry them out as circumstances should de- 
mand. Sherman landed at first, near Young's Point, sent an 
expedition to destroy the Vicksburg and Shrevesport Rail- 
road, so as to cut off the rebel supplies from that quarter ; 
made a demonstration upon Haines' Bluff, on the Yazoo about 
twelve miles above its mouth ; and finally on the 20th of De- 
cember, landed at Chickasaw Bayou, a few miles lower down, 
and moved thence across the almost impassable swamps 
against the rebel lines along the slopes of the Walnut hills. 
But the natural and artificial defences, together with the 
strong rebel force behind them, were too much for Sherman 
to overcome. In the nature of things his movement could 
not be made a surprise, and he therefore found himself com- 
pelled to relinquish the expedition without further effort, or 
to make a bold and vigorous attack. He chose the latter 
course and failed, but from no fault of his own nor of his men. 
The troops after a most gallant fight. In which they suffered 
severe loss, were withdrawn to the river and re-embarked on 
the 1st of January. 

General McClernand, who, in accordance with the promise 
of the Government, had been hurried forward to take the com- 
mand, under the advice of Sherman moved at once against 
the Post of Arkansas on the White River, which place, he, in 
connection with the naval squadron under Admiral Porter, 
captured on the 11th of January. The fruits of this victory 



102 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GIIAXT. 

were 6,000 prisoners, 17 guns, 12 colors, 6,000 stands of 
smaU arms, and a large amount of military stores. 

During this time Grant was still at Memphis,* but when 
McClernand joined the expedition and its first failure became 
known. Grant obtained authority from Halleck to strengthen 
it with all his available forces, and to assume command in 
person. His first movement was to visit the forces near the 
mouth of White River, on the 17th of January. After con- 
ferring with Admiral Porter, and Generals McClernand and 
Sherman, he ordered the expedition to rendezvous in the 
neighborhood of Vicksburg and then returned to Memphis. 
Soon after his arrival at that place he received a letter from 
McClernand, protesting in an insolent and insubordinate man- 
ner, against being superseded in command, on the score that 
he had been assigned by order of the President and could not 
be removed except by him. This was not McClernand's first 
offense, for he had long been in the habit of grumbling, pro- 
testing, and acting with marked disrespect to his superiors. 
Grant was therefore urged by his staff to test the question of 
authority at once by relieving McClernand from all command, 
and sending him to the rear ; but with a degree of magna- 
nimity rarely equalled, he sank all personal feeling, and an- 
swered : " No ! I cannot afford to quarrel with a man whom 
I have to command." Acting on this principle he treated 
McClernand with the greatest consideration, giving him in 
nearly all cases the post of honor and more than his share of 
the troops, knowing that nothing else would satisfy his inordi- 
nate ambition, and feeling that McPherson and Sherman would 
regard themselves as amply rewarded by the simple pi'ivilege 

* "While here Grant was approached by an acquaintance from St. Louis, 
with a proposition to permit the sale of salt, along the Mississippi River, 
within the rebel lines, upon condition that he should receive half the profits — 
which would have been enormous. It is hardly necessary to state this offer 
was scorned, and the person making it treated with such contempt as to 
overwhelm him with shame. The news of this attempt and its signal ftiilure 
doubtless spread among the cormorants who were fattening upon the misfor- 
tunes of the country ; for nothing Hke its repetition was ever known to have 
occurred. 



i\ 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 103 

of obeying orders with alacrity and zeal, no matter what they 
might be, nor what sacrifices they might exact. . 

Without delay, Grant sent the engineer officers of his staff 
to join the army and gather information ; ordered INIcPherson 
with his corps, already withdrawn from the Tallahatchie to 
Memphis, to proceed to Milliken's Bend as fast as transporta- 
tion could be obtained ; assigned Hurlbut -vyith the Sixteenth 
corps to the command of West Tennessee, and to the task of 
keeping the river open as far down as Helena ; and then pro- 
ceeded in person to Young's Point, where he arrived on the 
2Sth of January. While perfecting these arrangements, being 
thoroughly impressed Avith the magnitude and difficulty of the 
operations in which he was about to embark, he advised the 
Government to unite the various military departments in the 
West, into one command, in, order that all its resources might 
be directed to the accomplishment of the one great object. 
And for fear that this advice might be looked upon as an 
effijrt to extend his own power, he declined in advance the 
supreme control. This suggestion, based as it was, upon 
strategic considerations of the highest character, is enough 
to show that Grant had already attained the stature of an 
able General and a far-sighted, judicious statesman. It w:-as 
not acted upon, however, until Rosecrans' defeat at Chick- 
amauga rendered a consolidation absolutely necessaiy. It 
will be seen in the meantime how Grant showed his worthi- 
ness to have the supreme command, in spite of his exceeding 
modesty. 



CHAPTER XII. 

SITE OP VICKSBURG — DIFFICULT APPROACHES — NATURAL DEFENSES — 
TROOPS ARRIVE AT MILLIKEN'S BEND — FAILURE OF THE CANAL — 
YAZOO PASS EXPEDITION — STEELE'S BAYOU EXPEDITION — CONCEN- 
TRATION OF THE ARMY AT MILLIKEN'S BEND. 

In order that the reader may understand a part of the dif- 
ficulties which the army of the Tennessee (not " the army of 
the Mississippi," as McClernand persisted in calling it,) had 
to encounter, he should bear in mind that Vicksburg is situ- 
ated on a bluff some two hundred and fifty feet above low 
water mark, and is covered in front and flank by the almost 
illimitable bottom lands of the Mississippi. These lands are 
intersected in all directions by impassable swamps and tortu- 
ous, fever-breeding bayous, filled with quagmires and quick- 
sands, treacherous bottoms, and steep banks, almost impassa- 
ble by troops in summer, and entirely so, except by boats, 
during the rainy season. They are covered by a dense forest 
and incumbered by a luxuriant growth of cane and vines. 
No roads have been constructed through them, and none can 
be except at an excessive cost. The swamps, forests, jungles, 
bayous and rivers of this remarkable region, are the most 
perfect defense that could be devised for important points sit- 
uated on the highlands which lie beyond them. To the army 
operating along the main river, they proved to be a perfect 
barrier, for although they were frequently penetrated, it was 
always with such great labor and loss of time, that the rebels, 
moving by rail or along the better roads of the highlands, 
were enabled to meet our forces in superior strength, or to 
block their way by impassable fortifications. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 105 

As fast as the troops reached MUllken's Bend and Young's 
Point, they were disembarked, and the transports were sent 
to bring forward others. In the meantime, Grant undertook 
to devise a plan which should give him either the immediate 
possession of Vicksburg itself, or a footing on the neighbor- 
ing highlands with an accessible base from which he could 
operate against the city and its communications. To secure 
the first of these ends, there was no course possible but to 
land a picked force by surprise from steamers and flat-boats 
at the levee of the city, and to carry its works by a vigorous 
attack. But this was clearly too hazardous an undertaking 
with troops unused to such desperate adventures. It was 
therefore apparent that some other scheme must be adopted. 
The various plans which suggested themselves may be classi- 
fied under three general heads : 

First. — To enlarge the canal, commenced the year before 
by Butler, across the peninsula in front of Vicksburg, and to 
send through it a strong force by flat-boats and steamers if 
practicable, to land at or below Warrenton, whence the high- 
lands might be reached and the defences of Vicksburg carried. 
It was also hoped that this plan would result in turning the 
river through the canal and thus in a measure depriving 
Vicksburg of its importance. 

Second. — The probability of capturing the rebel works at 
Haines' Bluff by a combined land and naval attack was 
thoughtfully discussed, as was also the possibility of turning 
this place by operations along the bayous leading from the 
Mississippi to the Yazoo above it. 

Third. — In the event of all other plans failing, General 
Grant carefully considered the feasibility of running the 
batteries with the fleet, and taking his entire army to 'some 
point on the Mississippi below Vicksburg, by whatever 
means should be found most practicable. By this plan it was 
hoped to secure a footing at Grand Gulf or Rodney and 
thence to move at once into the interior of Mississippi, or 
to form a junction with Banks — then occupying the Red 
River country — and with the combined armies to maneuver 



103 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEAXT. 

SO as to draw out and destroy the rebel army under Peii:- 
berton. 

The first of these plans proved Impracticable on account 
of the faulty location of the canal* and the Impossibility 
of giving It a sufficient width and depth to admit the passage 
of boats. The rapid rise of the Mississippi and the conse- 
quent pressure of the water broke the levees of the peninsula 
and canal, and instead of cutting a navigable channel as had 
been hoped, inundated the country for miles around. But 
even had this canal been finished as Intended, it is not proba- 
ble that it could have been used by the steamboats, as the 
rebels had established batteries of heavy guns, within a mile 
and a quarter of its outlet, enfilading it throughout. They 
had rendered It untenable fur the dredge boats before the 
levees broke. 

Grant had probably but little faith In it from the first, for 
the very day he arrived In front of Vicksburg, he sent Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Wilson of his staff, to Helena, for the purpose 
of opening and exploring Yazoo Pass — a tortuous bayou 
leaving the Mississippi a few miles below Helena and with 
the Cold Water and Tallahatchie, after nearly two hundred and 
fifty miles of twisting and turning, connecting with the Yazoo 
Eiver. A few days afterwards McPherson was ordered to 
open a way through Lake Providence to Bayou Baxter, and 
Bayou Macon, and thence through the Washita into the Red 
Eiver. 

Yazoo Pass, in the earlier daj's of the Mississippi settle- 
ments, had been used by trading boats as the means of reach- 
ing the country along the Tallahatchie and Yazoo, but in later 
years it was obstructed by a levee across Its entrance, near the 
bank of the Mississippi. The supply of water having been 

* General Halleck in his annual report of operations, states that this canal 
failed because of its faulty location, there being an eddy at tl'.e lower end, but 
this is only partially correct. The water failed to run through it and across 
the peninsula because the middle of the peninsula, in accordance with the 
general law in such cases, was lower than either side ; as a consequence the 
water ran in at both ends, and after the guard bnnk was broken, spread out 
over the swamps and lowest land first. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKAXT. 107 

cut off, its bed was encroached upon by a rank growth of 
cotton- wood and willow, so that when it came to be considered 
as a possible line by which the Yazoo could be reached, its 
mouth had become almost obliterated. But when the levee 
was cut, the flood of water which poured through the cre- 
vasse in a few hours, uprooted the young trees, swept away 
the fallen timber, and left an open channel wide enough for 
steamboats to descend. The rebels, however, anticipating the 
intentions of Grant, before the gun-boats and troops could be 
got ready, filled the lower part of the pass, felling into and 
across it, the forest trees growing upon its banks, and over- 
lapping their limbs above it. These were, however, removed 
bv the troops, under the direction of General Washburne and 
Colonel Wilson, after infinite labor, and ceaseless exposure for 
nearly two weeks. The expedition consisting of two rams, 
two powerful iron-clads, six tin-clad steamers, and one divis- 
ion of troops under General Ross, embarked on about twenty 
small steamboats, left the river on the 24th of February, and 
by the 1st of March they had mostly succeeded in pushing 
their way through the wilderness to the Coldwater. Thence- 
forward it was supposed to be plain sailing, but the naval 
force was commanded by an officer of extreme caution and 
timidity, who managed upon one pretext or another to delay 
the expedition so that it did not reach its final station, near 
the mouth of the Tallahatchie, till the 11th of March. Pem- 
berton, in the meantime, had sent a strong force from Vicks- 
burg under Loring, and while the expedition which promised 
so much was moving with such deliberation, this force took 
position near Greenwood, and threw up a line of works some 
five hundred yards long, extending from a bend in the Talla- 
hatchie, to a corresponding bend in the Yazoo, and covering 
the mouth of the Yallobusha. They also sank an ocean 
sfeamer, and constructed a heavy raft in the Tallahatchie 
under the guns of their fort. "When the iron-clads made 
their appearance, they were greeted by a well directed fire 
from two heavy rifled guns, and although they replied in due 
time with their nine and eleven inch Dahlgrens, aided by the 



108 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 

fire of a battery erected by the troops on the narrow spit of 
land not overflowed, they did not succeed in dislodging or 
silencing the enemy. Kearly the entire face of the country 
being under water, and the rebel fort being covered on all 
sides by the river, and impassable sloughs, it was out of the 
question for the infantry to attempt either a turning move- 
ment or an assault. After spending a week in futile efforts 
to devise means of getting into the Yazoo, the expedition was 
abandoned, though Grant had entertained such hope of its 
success that he ordered McPherson to withdraw his detach- 
ments from the bayous leading southward from Lake Provi- 
dence, and to join the Yazoo Pass expedition with his entire 
corps. It was also hoped that an expedition sent from the 
mouth of the Yazoo through Steele's Bayou, Rolling Fork, 
and Alligator Bayou, might reach the Yazoo, above Haines' 
Bluff, thus taking the position at Fort Pemberton in reverse. 
Admiral Porter undertook to carry out this part of the plan, 
and succeeded in penetrating over two hundred miles into the 
net-work of bayous, but the rebels, gathering in his front and 
rear, and felling trees into the streams, soon obstructed the 
navigation so much that it was equally impossible for the 
gun-boats to advance or retire. The officers and men were 
di'iven below by the annoying fire of sharp-shooters lying 
behind the trees within a few yards of the boats, and had 
it not been for the timely arrival of General Sherman, with a 
succoring force, it is not improbable that the Admiral would 
have lost his vessels and been taken prisoner with all his 
officers and men. 

Thus it will be seen that Grant was foiled at every step, 
and in every plan. The interminable forests, tortuous bayous, 
and impassable swamps of the Yazoo country, were too much 
to be overcome by human effort. These side expeditions were 
therefore abandoned and the troops rapidly concentrated agafn 
in front of Vicksburg. 

Thouo-h no substantial advantage had been gained, and the 
high land seemed farther off than ever, these preliminary 
operations were not entirely without benefit to the national 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 109 

cause. The army was kept busy and therefore healthy, while 
the rebels were greatly annoyed and harassed. Holding not 
only Yicksburg, but nearly all of Western Mississippi, they 
were compelled to move constantly from one place to another, 
scattering their strength and keeping on the alert at all points. 
But the greatest advantage was that the Union commander 
became convinced by his failures that there was but one way 
left for him to accomplish the object in view, and, "at that 
very stage when an intellect of less determined fibre would 
have been resigning itself to a seemingly implacable fortune. 
Grant, overleaping fate and failure, rose to the height of that 
audacious conception on which at length he vaulted into 
Yicksburg." * 

* Swinton's " Twelve Decisive Battles of the War," p. 283. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

m'cLERNAND and M'PHERSON march to XEW CARTHAGE — ADMIRAL 
PORTER WITH THE IRON-CLADS AND TRANSPORTS RUNS BY THE BAT- 
TERIES — DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENE — SUPPLIES ARRIVING — NAVAL 
FIGHT AT GRAND GULF — THE GUN-BOATS AND TRANSPORTS RUN BAT- 
TERIES AT GRAND GULF — TROOPS CROSS THE RIVER AT BRUINS- 
BURG — M'CLERNAND encounters THE ENEMY — BATTLE OF PORT 
GIBSON — THE REBELS DEFEATED — EVACUATION OF GRAND GULF — 
GRANT PUSHES FORWARD — BASE OF SUPPLIES AT GRAND GULF — 
HALT FOR SUPPLIES AND RE-ENFORCEMENTS. 

As before stated, Grant never felt entire confidence in any 
of the plans for taking Vicksburg by operations north of it, 
and therefore, while he gave all of them the best trial circum- 
stances would allow, he held firmly to the idea of transferring 
his army to the southward. When the canal across the pen- 
insula failed, his fertile genius discovered another route prom- 
ising better results. By examining the map of the country 
adjacent to Vicksburg it will be seen that there is a system of 
bayous, leading by a tortuous course of thirty miles from the 
neighborhood of INIilliken's Bend — the rendezvous of Grant's 
army — to New Carthage, some twenty miles below Vicksburg. 
Engineers Avere sent to examine this route, and soon re- 
ported that it could be prepared for steamboat navigation, by 
cutting a canal from Duckport to Walnut Bayou and then 
clearing the bayous of the trees which had grown up in their 
beds. Grant gave the necessary orders for beginning tlie 
work ; but without waiting for its completion he began the 
movement by ordering INIcClernand's corps to march along the 
levees bordering the bayous, to New Carthage. The country 
being inundated nearly everywhere, except along the banks 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. Ill 

of the bayous, causeways had to be thrown up, In one in- 
stance over a mile in length, before the troops could pass. 
Lladison Parish, through which the line of march lay, has 
been brought under a high state of cultivation, but the roads, 
owing to the freshet, were at that time as bad as they could 
possibly be, so that the march was made with great difficulty. 
"When the* advance reached Smith's plantation, New Carthage, 
two miles beyond, was an island which could only be reached 
by ferrying. Boats were built and others collected from the 
neighboring plantations, by which means one division suc- 
ceeded in reaching the village, but the rest of the corps was 
sent twelve miles farther, striking the river at Perkins' plan- 
tation. McPherson's corps followed soon after. 

By this time, owing to a subsidence of the flood in the river, 
and the difficulty of cutting off the trees below the surface of 
the water in the bayous, it was necessary to abandon this 
route also as a means of keeping the army supplied ; and 
should the river continue to fall, which it was likely to do at 
that time of the year, it would be utterly out of the question 
to send transports through the bayous, even after the trees 
were removed. Grant therefore determined to overcome all 
difficulties on the score of supplies and transportation by send- 
ing the transports and iron-clads, under the fire of the Yicks- 
burg batteries, to join the army below that place. 

Accordingly, on the night of Thursday, April 16th, Ad- 
miral Porter, with six iron-clads, one tug, one steam ram, 
and three river steamboats, the latter manned mostly by vol- 
unteers from the army, ran past the batteries of Vicksburg 
under a terrific and almost incessant fire. 

It was a clear, starlight night, but the rebels set fire to 
houses near the river bank ; and one of the transports also 
took fire from tlie effects of a bursting shell, so that the whole 
scene was soon under a glare of light, almost as bright as 
diiy. The fleet, instead of going by under a full head of 
steam, drifted with the current, the gun-boats answering 
shot with shot. The passage required nearly two hours, dur- 
inor which the rebels were enabled to work their heavy and 



112 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

well posted guns with telling effect. The reverberation of 
artillery, the howling of rifle shot, and the constant bursting 
of shells made the scene one of the most terrific ever wit- 
nessed in warfare. Grant accompanied the fleet with his own 
steamer to within range of the rebel guns, and from that point 
anxiously watched the entire movement. By twelve o'clock 
he had the satisfaction of knowing that it had proved entirely 
successful. The gun-boats were uninjured ; one transport 
was abandoned and burned, and another had her steam-chest 
pierced, but with all, it was now certain, that by using the 
gun-boats, tugs, and transports, the entire army could be 
ferried across the river at any point, in a few hours. This 
end being secured beyond a doubt, Grant felt that his cam- 
paign could not fail. Supplies for immediate use were for- 
warded by barges and flat-boats which also ran the batteries 
under the cover of darkness ; and as the flood gradually sub- 
sided, and the country emerged from the water, roads were 
constructed on the west side of the river, leading from MllH- 
ken's Bend and Young's Point, to Bowers' * Landing, just 
above Warrenton. Under the efficient direction of Colonels 
Bingham and Macfeeley, Chief Quartermaster and Commis- 
sary, every want of the army, until it finally cut loose from 
all connection with the river, was promptly supplied. The 
greatest danger had already been overcome, when the army 
and transports passed below Vicksburg. To Grant, and 
Grant alone, is due all the credit of carrying this movement 
into eflfect, for although circumstances may have in a man- 
ner driven him to adopt the plan of which this was the first 
and most important step, he perceived from the day of his 
arrival at the point opposite Vicksburg, all the great strategic 
advantages to be obtained by operating against that place 
from the southward, and therefore bent all his energies to 
placing his army in such position as would enable him to gain 
those advantages. The persistency with which he tried to 
find some other route than the one finally adopted, shows his 

* Located by, and called after T. S. Bowers, A. A. G., an efficient and valued 
officer of Grant's staff. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAKT. 113 

anxiety to avoid unnecessary risk ; but when all other routes 
had failed, there was nothing left to a man of his temper but 
to go forward in the one that remained. He was counseled 
to wait for the dry season, and in the meantime to send a part 
of his army to help Rosecrans overwhelm Bragg. Sherman 
advised him to return at once to Northern Mississippi, and 
renew the overland campaign ; McPherson and Steele rather 
favored the same plan. So long as the question was open for 
discussion. Grant was almost entirely alone in the opinion 
which he held. He was not insensible to the fact that his 
plan was a hazardous one, or that in the event of any serious 
misadventure, his army would be in great peril ; but he also 
knew that he could not afford to turn back, even to gain a 
victory elsewhere. The country had begun to clamor for his 
removal, and it was rumored that the Government had de- 
termined to replace him by McClernand. Under such cir- 
cumstances success was an absolute necessity, and as at 
Shiloh, he had " not yet despaired " of winning it. It must 
not be understood from the foregoing, that Grant at any time 
called a council of war, or solicited through any other means 
the advice of his subordinates. No General was ever more 
easily accessible than he, and no one ever listened with more 
attention to the voluntary suggestions of those in whom he 
had confidence ; and yet it is not too much to say that neither 
McPherson nor Sherman, (not even McClernand,*) "fur- 
nished him with brains," then or thereafter, either for the 
conception or the execution of his plans. It is but ftxir, how- 
ever, to add that when he announced his determination, and 
issued the final orders for the march, every officer from the 
highest to the lowest gave him unqualified support. 

The movement of the troops to firm footing on the banks 

* Should the future historian ever get hold of the records kept by General 
McClernand, he should not waste too much time in trying to reconcile them 
with this remark, but should bear in mind it has been said of that sagacious 
I Commander, that after the receipt of orders to execute a good movement he 
not unfreqnently wrote to his Commanding General advising the same move- 
ment, antedating his letter and carefully forgetting to mention the instructious 
already received. 



114 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

of the INIIssI^sippi, below Yicksburg, was one of the most 
difficult ever aecompliijhed by an army. Canals were dug, 
bayous were cleared out, roads were thrown up and cordu- 
royed, boats were built, wagons and artillery were with in- 
credible labor drawn through the swamps, before the army 
could be assembled within striking distance of the enemy. 
During this march, over three thousand feet of bridging, in- 
cluding four bridges of over six hundred feet in length, were 
built, and that without the use of a single military bridge 
train. Cotton-gins and flat-boats afforded all the materials 
required by the hardy and self-reliant soldiers of the Union. 
Nothing could have been more admirable than the spirit with 
which the army overcame difficulties. It shared to the fullest 
extent the qualities which mark their indomitable Commander, 
as the most peculiar General yet known to history. If no 
other General would have undertaken such a campaign, it is 
not too much to say that no other army, except one com- 
posed of Americans, could have carried it successfully to its 
completion. 

By the 29th of April, just one month from the commence- 
ment of the movement from IVIilliken's Bend, Grant had as- 
sembled McClernand's and McPherson's corps, a force of about 
thirty thousand men, at New Carthage and Perkins' Landing, 
five more transports* had run past the Vicksburg batteries, 
and were added to the fleet below, and all were in readiness to 
assist in ferrying the army to the jSIississippi side, which had 
been carefully reconnoitered from Warrenton to the mouth of 
the Big Black, without finding a landing place connected with 
the liigh land by a passable road. There was nothing left 
for it but to select some point at which the river washed the 
foot of the bluffs. The first point of this kind, was Grand 
Gulf, just below the mouth of the Big Black, and as the rebels 
had fortified and garrisoned the place, a landing could not be 
made till their batteries should be silenced. In order to mis- 
lead the enemy in reference to his real designs. Grant ordered 
Sherman to make a demonstration with two divisions and the 

*Nine river steamers ran past the batteries, only two of which were lost. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 115 

gun-boats still above Vicksburg, on the rebel position at 
Haines' Bluff, and after attracting all the attention that he 
could, without making an actual attack, to withdraw and fol- 
low rapidly upon the footsteps of the main force. Sherman 
carried out his instructions so efficiently as to deceive Pem- 
berton completely. 

On the 30th of April, Porter made a determined attack 
with his iron-clads, upon the rebel batteries at Grand Gulf, 
passing and repassing the town, pouring out first one broad- 
side and then another ; holding his armored vessels, including 
his own fiag-ship, for six hours to the desperate work, but all 
to no purpose. The rebel guns were too far above water to 
be dismounted, and too well manned to be easily silenced. 
They returned shot for shot, with great regularity, occasion- 
ally pausing for awhile but renewing the fire whenever favor- 
able range could be got upon their antagonists. 

Grant was again an anxious spectator. He had embarked 
a part of McClernand's corps, and held them ready to make a 
landino; and scale the heights when the rebel batteries should 
be silenced; but Porter's gallant fight had shown that the 
navy was incompetent to do the work assigned it, though it 
was as fit for action after the six hours' work as before, only 
one iron-clad having been seriously damaged and thirty or 
forty men killed and wounded. It was plain that some other 
point must be selected. Accordingly as soon as it was dark, 
the transports, under cover of the fleet ran past the batteries, 
as at Vicksburg, under a heavy fire, while the troops marched 
across, after dark, to Hard Times Landing, two miles below 
Grand Gulf. Early the next morning they were re-embarked 
on board the transports and, accompanied by the gun-boats, 
started down the river again. It was generally supposed that 
a landing could not be effected short of Rodney, but Grant 
was fortunate enough to learn from a negro that the highland 
could be reached by landing at Bruinsburg, about ten miles 
below Grand Gulf. The troops had been already supplied 
with rations, and stripped of all impediments, and when the 
advance reached Bruinsburg, which was found unoccupied, 



116 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

no time was lost in pushing out a party as far as the hills, by 
the road along the south bank of Bayou Pierre. This party 
was soon strengthened ; and by the middle of the afternoon 
enough of McClernand's corps had obtained a firm footing on 
dry land to render the lodgment entirely safe. Transports 
and gun-boats vied with each other in ferrying the army from 
Hard Times to the landing place, while Grant busied himself 
in pushing them to the front. So anxious was he to get his 
army united on the Mississippi side, that he issued orders for- 
bidding even the Generals to take their horses till every man 
who could carry a musket was across. The infimtry crossed 
first, and then the artillery, but wagons of all kinds were left 
behind; Grant even left his own horses and personal baggage 
and required his staff to do the same. In order to go to the 
fi'ont he was compelled to borrow a horse from a small de- 
tachment of cavalry which he had allowed to cross for the 
purpose of acting as scouts and couriers. The ferrying was 
continued throughout the night and by daylight on the 1st 
of May, all of McClernand's and a part of McPherson's corps 
had crossed. McClernand, who had pushed out his leading 
division five or six miles during the afternoon and night, re- 
newed his advance at early dawn, and by sunrise had begim 
to feel the enemy. The sound of artillery soon afterward bore 
to Grant's ears the assurance that Pemberton had not been in- 
active. Ordering McPherson to hurry the remainder of his 
troops to the front as fast as they arrived, he mounted his 
borrowed horse and, accompanied by two staff officers, rode 
rapidly to the field of battle, about eight miles from the river, 
and assumed direct control of the troops. jMcClernand had 
found the enemy composed of infantry and cavalry, posted 
upon a succession of heavily wooded ridges covering the two 
roads leading into Port Gibson, and although not in very great 
force, able to make a successful and stubborn resistance, owing 
to the natural strength of the position. The divisions of 
Hovey, Carr and A. J. Smith, were thrown against the 
enemy along the right hand road while Osterhaus' division 
pressed him back on the left. The rebel General Bowen felt 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 117 

tlint lie must hold Grant back with all his might, and defeat 
him if he wished to save Grand Gulf, and bar the road to 
Vicksburg long enough to make its defense sure. He there- 
fore disputed every foot of the field, with stubborn and deter- 
mined bravery. But Grant pushed forward his troops with 
the greatest celerity, driving the enemy steadily but slowly all 
the while, till the arrival of Logan with McPherson's leading 
division enabled him to re-enforce both Osterhaus and the 
troops under Hovey, Carr and Smith, and by a vigorous at- 
tack all along the line and on both flanks, to drive the rebels 
broken and defeated from their last position, with the loss of 
150 killed, 840 wounded, and 600 prisoners, besides 3 guns 
and 4 flags. Night put an end to the pursuit, but the rebels 
continued their retreat through Port Gibson, and beyond the 
Bayou Pierre. They burned the bridges across the forks of 
the bayou, and fell back the next day to the north side of the 
Big Black River, having blown up the magazines, spiked the 
guns and abandoned Grand Gulf, during the night of May 1st. 

Grant pushed forward, and repaired the bridges, and while 
the army continued the pursuit to Hankinson's Ferry, he rode 
to Grand Gulf reaching there at nightfall on the 2d. Ad- 
miral Porter had already taken possession. Grant directed 
the proper staff" departments to transfer the base of supplies 
at once to Grand Gulf, sent orders to Sherman to cross the 
river there, and wrote despatches to Banks informing him of his 
success, and telling him that he should not turn towards the 
south, nor detach any part of his troops for operations in that 
direction. At midnight he mounted and rode rapidly back to 
the army, which he joined on the morning of the 3d, at sun- 
rise. The night before he had slept upon the ground, with- 
out a tent, in the midst of his soldiers, with his saddle for a 
pillow and without even an overcoat for covering. Now, 
throwing himself upon a hard wooden bench he took two 
hours' sound sleep, this time without even the luxury of a 
saddle. 

The rebel writers have tried to palliate the soreness of their 
defeat at Port Gibson, by saying that they were outnumbered 



118 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

two to one, but they forget that it was Grant's good general- 
ship which enabled him, by the concentration of superior 
forces on the field of action, to make his first step sure. No 
General ever displayed greater activity or clearness of judg- 
ment than Grant did during the preliminary movements of 
this campaign ; but the rebels having fallen back towards 
Vicksburg, he now suspended his advance for the purpose of 
waiting for Sherman to join him. The delay was improved by 
bringing forward supplies, making reconnoisances and gather- 
ing: information for future use. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



JOHNSTON PLACED IN COMMAND OF REBEL MILITARY OPERATIONS IN 
THE SOUTH-WEST — PEMBERTON'S GENERALSHIP — GRIERSON'S RAID 
— SHERMAN JOINS THE ARMY — GRANT'S PLAN — BATTLE OF RAY- 
MOND — CAPTURE OF JACKSON — BATTLE OF CHAMPION'S HILL — CAP- 
TURE OF STORES AND MUNITIONS AT EDWARDS* DEPOT — ASSAULT 
AND CAPTURE OF THE WORKS AT BIG BLACK RIVER BRIDGE — GAL- 
LANT CONDUCT OF THE TROOPS — PEMBERTON HASTENS TO VICKS- 
BURG — THE UNION ARMY CROSSES THE BIG BLACK — ARRIVAL BE- 
FORE VICKSBURG — RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. 

After Beauregard's retirement, the Eichmond authorities 
put the control of all their military operations in the South- 
west, into the hands of Joseph E. Johnston, who made his 
head-quarters with Bragg — receiving daily reports from all 
parts of his extensive command. Pemberton gave him the 
impression that Grant would relinquish the campaign against 
Vicksburg, but, as has been seen, he sadly misconceived the 
temper of his adversary. 

During the progress of the battle near Port Gibson, John- 
ston ordered re-enforcements from Tennessee, South Carolina 
and Georgia, and directed Pemberton to gather all his forces 
and " drive Grant into the river ;" but that officer was not only 
incapable of doing this, but of understanding the principles 
of warfare upon which the order was based. Instead of 
abandoning Vicksburg at once and concentrating his entire 
force in the direction of Jackson — a railroad center — he col- 
lected his troops within the fortifications which had already 
shown their inutility, and waited for the blow which was 
menacing him. 



120 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

In pursuance of Grant's Instructions, Ilurlbut sent out 
from West Tennessee, in the latter part of April, a detach- 
ment of cavalry under Colonel Grierson, with instructions to 
ride through Mississippi for the purpose of destroying rebel 
property, breaking the railroads, and scattering rebel con- 
scripts, and finally joining either Grant, or Banks, as circum- 
stances should determine. This raid proved to be eminently 
successful, demonstrating clearly to the country that the Con- 
federacy was but a shell — empty within and only sti'ong on 
the outside — a piece of information upon which Grant was by 
no means slow to act. 

Sherman, with the Fifteenth corps, joined the army on the 
8th of May ; wagons and supplies had been brought forward 
in the meanwhile, and definite information obtained, touching 
the enemy's movements. Grant's force was now not far from 
forty-five thousand men, and everything in excellent condi- 
tion, when the word for the advance was given. Ilis plan 
was to sweep around to the eastward of the Big Black, with 
Sherman's and McClernand's corps, marching by the roads 
towards Edwards' Depot and Bolton, on the Vicksburg and 
Jackson Eailroad, while McPherson was to be thrown well 
out towards the interior — if necessary as far as Jackson — by 
the way of Raymond. Rations of sugar, coffee and salt, to- 
gether with " three days of hard bread to last five" were issued 
to the troops; everything else was to be gathered from the 
country. In pursuance of these instructions, the different corps 
pushed rapidly forward, encountering but little or no resistance. 
On the 12th of May, McPherson's leading division, under 
command of the gallant and irrepressible Logan, encountered 
the enemy in strong force under Gregg and Walker, recently 
arrived from Port Gibson and Georgia, posted on tlie north 
side of Fondreau's Creek, near Raymond, and after a brilliant 
combat of several hours. In which a part of Crocker's divis- 
ion became finally engaged, drove them from the field, with 
the loss of 120 killed, and 750 wounded and prisoners. Our 
losses were 69 killed, (from Colonel Richards' Twentieth 
Illinois infantry, and Major Kaga's Twentieth Ohio,) 341 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEA^T, 121 

^YOunded, and 32 missing. The rebel force was about 6,000 
strong, and fought well. McPherson and Logan behaved 
with great gallantry, and displayed excellent generalship in 
this affair, while Stevenson, Dennis, Lieutenant-Colonel Stur- 
gis of the Eighth Illinois, and all the officers and men showed 
the highest soldierly qualities. 

This battle, in which a second detachment of the enemy 
had been routed, gave Grant great confidence in the following 
steps of the campaign. Instead of pushing McCIernand and 
Sherman, who had both crossed Fourteen Mile Creek and got 
within seven miles of Edwards' Depot, directly upon the lat- 
ter place, he determined to make sure of Jackson first and 
to scatter the force now known to be assembling there under 
Johnston in person. To this end McPherson was pushed to- 
wards that place by the Clinton road ; Sherman was ordered 
to move rapidly by the way of Eaymond and Mississippi 
Springs, to the same place; while McCIernand was directed 
to withdraw by his right flank from his menacing position in 
front of Edwards' Depot, and to march to Raymond whence 
he could support either McPherson or Sherman. These 
movements were made with precision and celerity, and on the 
14th, Grant entered Jackson in triumph, after a sharp fight 
of several hours between McPherson's leading division under 
Crocker, and a force of rebels under Johnston. The latter, 
finding that the city could not be held, had posted guns In 
front of Sherman and thrown this force out upon the Clinton 
road for the purpose of resisting McPherson's advance long 
enough to permit the evacuation of the city by the Canton 
road. Large quantities of military stores, including six or 
eight guns and an abundant supply of sugar, fell Into our 
hands. Grant was one of the first persons to perceive the 
ruse which his wily antagonist had adopted, and at once gal- 
loped Into the town closely followed by the troops. Charging 
Sherman with the demolition of the bridge across the Pearl 
River, and the destruction of all the rebel military property 
not needed by the army — not forgetting the railroads north, 
south, east and west, Grant apprised McCIernand that evening 



122 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

of Ills success, and directed him to move Carr, Osterhaus and 
Hovey, the next mornino^ towards Bolton Station, and A. J. 
Smith towards Edwards' Depot. General F. P. Blair com- 
manding a division of Sherman's troops, not yet arrived, and 
Eansom with a brigade of McPherson's corps, were also di- 
rected to move upon the same point. Soon after arriving at 
Jackson, Grant learned that Johnston had sent the night be- 
fore, three different couriers with positive orders for Pember- 
ton, requiring him to march out and fall upon the rear of the 
national army. Without giving McPherson an hour's rest, 
Grant directed him to countermarch his corps and push with 
all possible haste towards Bolton, for the purpose of uniting 
with McClernand's corps, and anticipating the rebel attack. 
Sherman was left to finish the work which he had so thoroughly 
begun, and then to follow the main body of the army by the 
Clinton road. Grant in person left Jackson on the morning 
of the loth, and encamped that night at Clinton. Before 
daylight on the 16th, he was informed by two citizens just 
from Vicksburg that they had passed Pemberton's entire 
army, estimated at twenty-five or thirty thousand men, the 
evening before, at Baker's Creek, and still marching towards 
Bolton. Their information was so explicit and circumstantial 
that Grant despatched a staff officer at once to McPherson 
and McClernand with orders to prepare for a general battle, 
but not to bring on the action till all the troops were thoroughly 
in hand. A short time afterwards he rode rapidly to the 
front himself, arriving on the field about ten o'clock. He 
found Hovey's division with artillery, posted and drawn out 
in line of battle at Champion's plantation, on the Edwards' 
Depot road, two miles east of Baker's Creek; jNIcPherson's 
corps was in readiness to support Hovey; McClernand, with 
Carr and Osterhaus, occupied a position on the same line, on 
the middle road from Raymond to Edwards' Depot, but about 
a mile and a half to the left of Hovey ; while Blair and A. J. 
Smith were still farther to the left, converging on the same 
point. Sherman at the same time was well on the way from 
Jackson. Grant threw forward Logan's division to the right 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 123 

of Hovey, and gave the latter orders to advance. The skir- 
mishing had ah-eady become pretty hot and by twelve o'clock 
the troops of both armies were in full battle array. A pre- 
lude of sharp skirmishing with an occasional shot from the 
cannon of either side introduced the terrible shock of arms 
which followed. The rebels held the advantage in position, 
their lines being formed along the heavily wooded ridges lyino- 
in the bend of Baker's Creek. Their center on the main road 
held Champion's Hill, the key point of the field. Upon this 
point Hovey impelled his enthusiastic men with terrible vigor 
and by two o'clock had carried it in the handsomest manner, 
capturing four guns and several hundred prisoners. The 
enemy did all in his power to withstand the onset, but were 
steadily pressed back. Logan advanced almost simultane- 
ously with Hovey, pushing through an open field, along the 
northern slopes of Champion's Hill, and also driving back the 
enemy in his front. In the meantime the enemy had rallied 
in Hovey's front and being strongly re-enforced threw them- 
selves upon him with great determination, in their turn press- 
ing him back and threatening to wrest from him the heights 
which he had gained at such a fearful cost. At this critical 
juncture McPherson, who had fortunately brought forward 
Crocker's division and posted it behind the interval between 
Hovey and Logan, under Grant's direction, ordered it at once 
to the support of Hovey whose hard pressed regiments were 
now greatly fatigued and some of them entirely out of am- 
munition. Boomer's brigade, on the left, was marched rapidly 
by the flank to the top of the hill, and reached there just in time 
to catch the full force of the rebel onset. For fifteen minutes 
the rattle of musketry was incessant. At the same time sev- 
eral batteries had been collected near Grant's head-quarters, 
and converging their fire upon the woods from which the 
rebels were emerging. Boomer was enabled to drive them 
back with great loss. McPherson and Logan were mean- 
while swinging the right of the line well forward, steadily 
driving the rebels, and finally overlapping their left and strik- 
ing them in the flank and rear, capturing two batteries and 



124 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRA^;T. 

nearly a thousand prisoners. This movement in connection 
vnth. Boomer's splendid assault, resulted in driving the enemy 
from tho field, broken and routed. By four o'clock they were 
fleeino- in confusion rapidly towards Vicksburg. McClernand, 
although frequently ordered, did not succeed in getting either 
Carr or Osterhaus heavily engaged. Smith and Blair were 
too fir to the left to produce any decided effect, although their 
artillery and skirmishers were engaged with Loring's division 
for a short time. Ransom marched across the country to- 
wards the heaviest firing and joined McPherson after the 
action had ceased. 

The victory could scarcely have been more complete, and as 
has been seen, it was gained almost entirely by three division's, 
Hovey's, Logan's and Crocker's, not exceeding fifteen thou- 
sand men in all, while the rebels could not have been fewer 
than twenty-five thousand. The rebel historians excuse this 
defeat also on the ground that they were vastly outnumbered ; 
and it is true that Grant had in the short space of twenty- 
four hours, transformed the rear of his army into the full front 
of it, concentrating some thirty-five thousand men in all within 
supporting distance of each other, but it is also true that he 
won the battle with less than one-half of this force. His 
combinations were admirable; nothing in warfare was ever 
more praiseworthy, and had jMcClernand forced the fighting 
in his immediate front, as did Hovey, Boomer and Logan, un- 
der Grant's immediate supervision, it is difficult to see how 
any part of the rebel forces could have escaped. As it was 
they lost about 500 killed, including General Tilghman, 2,200 
wounded, and 2,000 prisoners, besides 18 guns and a large 
number of small arms. Grant's loss (mostly in Hovey's di- 
vision and Boomer's brigade,) was 426 killed, 1,842 wounded, 
and 189 missing, total, 2,457. 

The pursuit was continued to Edward's Depot tliat night, 
the leading troops capturing at that place an ammunition train 
of ten or twelve railroad cars. At dawn of the 17th, the pur- 
suit was renewed In the direction of Vicksburg ; and by seven 
o'clock McClernand's advance, under Osterhaus and Carr, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRA^T. 125 

came up with the rebel rear guard posted in strong entrench- 
ments nearly a mile in extent, covering the railroad and mili- 
tary bridges across the Big Black. These divisions were 
developed without delay under a strong fire from the rebel 
artillery, during which Osterhaus was wounded. Carr held 
the right, his right brigade commanded by General Lawler, 
resting upon the Big Black. After some desultory artillery 
firing and skirmishing, Lawler found a weak place on the 
extreme left of the rebel works, and lost no time in leading 
his brigade, composed of Iowa and Wisconsin men, to the 
assault. Advancing across an open field several hundred 
yards in width, they received a deadly fire, but without fiil- 
tering they rushed gallantly through the ditch and over the 
rebel breastworks, sweeping away all opposition, and captur- 
ing eighteen guns and nearly two thousand prisoners. In 
this gallant affair. Colonel Kinsman of the Twenty-third 
Iowa was killed, and Colonel (now Governor) Merrill of the 
Twenty-first was wounded, — both, while cheering forward 
their men in the most conspicuous manner. 

This put an end to the campaign in the open field. Pem- 
berton immediately abandoned his camp on the Big Black, and 
retreated in disorder to Vicksburg. Johnston had gone in 
the direction of Canton, but did not attempt a diversion in 
Pemberton's favor, though he might have fallen upon Sher- 
man's flank and harrassed him considerably. 

During the night four floating bridges were built across the 
Big Black by the troops under the direction of the engineer 
ofiicers. McClernand built one out of the ruins of the rail- 
road bridge, near the railroad crossing ; McPherson built two 
further ujf the river, one of timber obtained by pulling down 
cotton-gin houses, the other of cotton bales rafted together ; 
while Sherman made his of the india rubber pontoons. 
After night-fall, Grant rode up the river to see Sherman, 
whom he found at Bridgeport, engaged in crossing his com- 
mand. The two commanders crossed the bridge, and seated 
themselves on a fallen tree, in the light of a pile of burning 
fence rails, and had a friendly conference, while the eager and 



126 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

swift marcliing men of the Fifteenth corps filed by them and 
disappeared In the darkness. Grant recounted the results of 
the campaign and detailed his plans for the next day, after 
which he returned through the forest to his own head- 
quarters. 

On the next day, the 18th of May, the army marched by 
the various roads to the rear of Vicksburg, and after slight 
skirmishing drove the rebel pickets inside of their works. 
Communication by signal was opened at once with the gun- 
boats and transports lying above Vicksburg, and measures 
were taken to establish communications with the Yazoo River. 
The rebels had already evacuated Haines' Bluff, and the navy 
took possession of the place, and proceeded to burn the gun- 
carriages, camps, and stores, and to blow up the magazines. 
This, however, was done in mistaken zeal, and inflicted an 
actual damage upon us rather than upon the enemy. 

We may now pause to consider what had been accom- 
plished, AVithin these eighteen days, Grant had won five bat- 
tles, taken -40 field-guns, many colors and small arms, and 
nearly 5,000 prisoners ; killed and wounded 5,200 of the 
enemy ; separated their armies, in the aggregate, nearly 
60,000, strong ; captured one fortified capital city ; compelled 
the abandonment of the strong positions of Grand Gulf and 
Haines' Bluff, with their armament of 20 heavy guns; de- 
stroyed the railroads and bridges ; and made the investment of 
Vicksburg complete. In doing this McPherson's and McCler- 
nand's corps, had marched an average of 156 miles, while 
Sherman's had marched 175 miles. During this time the 
united strength of these three corps did not exceed 45,000 
men. The limits of this work will not permit us to dwell 
upon the brilliancy of this campaign nor to desdant upon the 
surpassing boldness and vigor of the generalship displayed by 
Grant, in conducting it. There is nothing in history since 
Hannibal invaded Italy to compare with it. 



CHAPTER XV, 



VICKSBURG INVESTED — THE REBEL WORKS— POSITION OF GRANT S 
ARMY — JOHNSTON ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE BIG BLACK — THE 
FIRST ASSAULT — ITS FAILURE — THE ASSAULT OF THE 22d OF MAY 
— GREAT BRAVERY OF THE TROOPS — INCIDENTS— GRANT DETER- 
MINES UPON A SIEGE — TROOPS SENT TO WATCH JOHNSTON — M'CLER- 
NAND's order — m'CLERNAND relieved from HIS COMMAND — 
M'PHERSON'S mine — THE CONTEMPLATED FINAL ASSAULT — FLAG 
OF TRUCE — MEETING OF GRANT AND PEMBERTON — GRANT'S TERMS 
— THE SURRENDER — SHERMAN ON THE MARCH TO JACKSON — RE- 
TURNS TO BLACK RIVER — REBELS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE MIS- 
SISSIPPI RIVER — FIGHT AT MILLIKEN'S BEND — BEHAVIOR OF THE 
COLORED TROOPS — BATTLE AT HELENA — THE REBELS DEFEATED — 
HERRON SENT TO RE-ENFORCE BANKS— PORT HUDSON SURRENDERS 
ON THE 8th OF JULY — RANSOM AT NATCHEZ — THE RESULTS OF THE 
VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN — REJOICING AT THE NORTH — THE PRESI- 
DENT'S LETTER— GRANT ORGANIZING HIS COMMAND — HE AUTHOR- 
IZES FURLOUGHS — PUBLIC DINNER AT MEMPHIS — GRANT'S LETTER. 

The rebels though badly beaten vy^ere at last concentrated 
within the fortifications of Vicksburg, and availing themselves 
of its great advantages they were enabled to make a pro- 
tracted and desperate defence. In order that the reader may 
have a definite understanding of the rebel position and the 
difficulties that yet remained for the Union army to overcome, 
let him imagine a plateau two hundred and fifty feet above 
the surface of the Mississippi, originally level, or sloping oflT 
gently towards the Big Black, but now cut and seamed in all 
directions by ravines from eighty to a hundred feet deep, with 
steep sides made more difficult by a heavy growth of fallen 
timber, which the rebels had cut down for the purpose of en- 
cumbering the ground and giving them fliir range upon troops 



128 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

trying to advance over it. These ravines leading into tliree 
•creeks emptying into the Mississippi, one just above Vicks- 
burg, another within its limits, and the third entirely below 
k, were divided by high and difficult ridges, along which had 
been thrown up a series of open and closed redoubts, armed 
with artillery and connected by single and double lines of well 
constructed rifle trench for infantry. The entire line, includ- 
ing three miles of river front, was nearly eight miles in ex- 
tent, for the defence of which the rebel General had some- 
thing over twenty thousand effective men. 

Grant's army was posted in the following order: Sher- 
man's corps, composed of Steele's, Blair's and Tuttle's 
divisions, held the right, extending from the ridge road around 
to the river ; INIcPherson, with Logan's, Crocker's and Quim- 
by's divisions, held the center on both sides of the Jackson 
road ; while McClernand, with Carr's, A. J. Smith's, Oster- 
haus' and Hovey's divisions, held the left extending well 
around to the south side of the city.* The ground had been 
reconnoitered in front of the different divisions, and although 
seen to be exceedingly difficult It was not regarded as impass- 
able. Grant had been informed by his cavalry that Johnston 
was gathering a strong force on the east side of the Big 
Black with which to fall upon his rear, and knowing that 
Pemberton's army must yet be In considerable disorder, If not 
actually too much demoralized to make a determined resist- 
ance, he decided upon an assault of the enemy's line. 

Accordingly he issued orders for all the field batteries tc 
open fire upon the rebel works at half-past one, and that at 
precin^ely two o'clock, the entire army should move to the 
attack. These orders were promjitly obeyed; the batteries 
poured forth an incessant fire for over a half-hour at close 
range, dismounting and silencing nearly all the rebel guns ; 
and promptly at the time appointed, the inflintry sprang cheer- 
fully forward, confident of sweeping over the rebel works as 
they had done at the Big Black bridge. Steele, Blair, Logan 

*Lauman's, Ilerron's and McArthur's divisions were afterwards added to the 
investing force. 



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THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 129 

and Carr made fair headway, but the rebels replied with spirit 
and with deadly effect. The ground was too much broken 
and encumbered with fallen timber and regular abattis ; no 
order could be maintained among the troops, though every 
effort was made to carry them forward even in disarray ; but 
it was impossible. The Thirteenth Regulars, Eighty-third In- 
diana and One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois, planted 
their colors on the rebel parapet, but officers and men alike 
perceived their inability to do more, and suspended the attack. 

The national loss was considerable with no adequate gain 
except a more advanced position and a better understanding 
of the ground m front of the rebel works. 

The failure of this attempt did not, however, cut off all 
hope of carrying the place without resorting to the laborious 
process of a siege. The troops were permitted to rest for 
awhile ; roads were opened along the lines of investment, and 
to the new bases of supplies at Chickasaw Landing and War- 
renton ; provisions and ammunition were brought forward, 
and everything was got in readiness for a new trial. At six 
o'clock P. M., of the 21st, Grant issued orders directing that 
at ten o'clock the next day a general attack should be made 
along the entire line, and particularly on all the roads leading 
into Vicksburg. In pursuance of these instructions the troops 
moved forward at the appointed time, but owing to the broken 
ground over which they were compelled to march, it was soon 
found to be impossible to move either in well ordered lines, or 
in weighty effective columns. As before, officers and men 
from right to left did their best. Sherman's troops reached 
the parapet of the works in their front, and planted their 
colors upon them, but could not cross. Logan's division of 
McPherson's corps, headed by Stevenson's brigade, made a 
gallant and orderly advance, but the position they assailed 
was the strongest part of the rebel line, and they were com- 
pelled to fall back, after losing heavily. Lawler's brigade of 
McClernand's corps, remembering their success at Big Black 
Eiver bridge, dashed forward in handsome style, and at one 
time seemed about to add a new victory to the number already 



130 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

inscribed upon their tattered colors. Sergeant Griffith* with 
a handful of men from the leading regiment, actually crossed 
the rebel parapet and captured a number of prisoners, but the 
regiment found it impossible to follow him. After holding 
on at the ditch of the rebel works for several hours, they were 
compelled to fall back. This partial success was magnified 
by McClernand into the capture of " several points of the 
enemy's entrenchments." He, therefore, called upon Grant 
for re-enforcements, expressing his confidence that Avitli them 
he could take the city. Grant, from his head-quarters had 
witnessed the attack along McClernand's front, and therefore 
doubted the propriety of sending re-enforcements, but fearing 
that he might underestimate the advantages which had been 
gained, he reluctantly consented to send one of McPherson's 
divisions, and instructed that officer accordingly. He also 
informed him and Sherman of what McClernand claimed to 
have done, and directed them to renew the attack. McPher- 
son sent Quimby's division from his left. Boomer's brigade 
leading. The attack was renewed again, and this time with 
still more disastrous results. The gallant Boomer f was 
killed, and the list of casualties throughout the army largely 
increased. Simultaneously with the land attack. Admiral 
Porter attacked the river front, both from above and below, 
and although he used ammunition without stint, he could not 
silence the rebel guns. 

It had now become apparent that the rebels could not be 
dislodged, except by a siege, or starvation. Grant therefore 
determined to try both. He sent to West Tennessee for all 

* The gallantry of this boy — not yet eighteen j-ears old — was greatly praised 
by the entire army. Grant promoted him at once, and subsequently obtained 
for him the appointment of Cadet at West Point, where he graduated with 
honor. He is now a Lieutenant of Engineers in the regular army. 

t Colonel Boomer, although only twenty-five or twenty-six years old, was 
one of the most higlilj' accomplished and promising officers in the army. His 
conduct at Champion's Hill and in the battles of West Tennessee, had 
attracted the attention and won for him the regard of both Grant and 
McPherson. Had he lived, he would doubtless have risen to greafr dis- 
tinction. 






LIFE OF ULYSSES 8. GRANT. 131 

the troops that could be spared from there. Halleck, with 
great alacrity, gathered all that could be dispensed with in 
AVest Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, and sent them for- 
ward. Herron's division of the Thirteenth, Lauman's of the 
Seventeenth, Kimball's and Sewy Smith's of the Sixteenth 
corps, under Washburn, and the Ninth corps under Parke, 
were brought forward in succession as fast as steamboats 
could be found to transport them ; so that within a fortnight 
the besieging army was increased to something over seventy- 
five thousand effective men. In order to prevent the escape 
of the garrison. Grant completed the investment of the rebel 
lines ; established batteries on the peninsula in front of the 
city ; and stationed a force at Milliken's Bend. For the pur- 
pose of rendering his own lines secure, he caused all of the 
roads leading towards the Big Black to be obstructed by 
felling trees in them. 

Sherman with a corps of observation, consisting of about 
twenty thousand men, drawn from the investing force, and 
further strengthened by the Ninth corps, was thrown out to 
the .north-eastward for the purpose of watching the move- 
ments of Johnston, now threatening the line of the Black 
Eiver with something over twenty thousand men. Sherman 
estabhshed a strong line of detached works, extending from 
near Bridgeport on the Big Black, by the way of Tiffinton and 
Milldale, to the Yazoo ; Osterhaus kept watch over the Big 
Black below the railroad crossing ; while Washburn estab- 
hshed a strongly fortified camp on Sherman's left, at Haines' 
Bluff. During all this time the siege operations were pushed 
steadily forward night and day ; parallels and trenches were 
opened at every favorable point; batteries were built and 
cavaliers erected ; heavy guns were borrowed from the navy 
and mounted on commanding points ; roads were made ; siege 
materials were prepared ; mines were sunk ; towers for sharp- 
shooters were built ; every means that ingenuity could devise, 
was brought to bear upon the work in hand. Wooden mor- 
tars were made for throwing grenades and small shells ; and 
sharpshooters were kept constantly on the watch for the 



132 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

luckless rebels who might show themselves above their works. 
So accurate and destructive was their fire that after the first 
four or five days every rebel gun was silenced, and when the 
place was finally taken, hundreds of rebels were found in the 
hospitals, who had been wounded in their hands and arms 
while raising them above the parapet to ram cartridges. 

Immediately after the assault of May 22d, McClemand 
issued a bombastic order of congratulation to his command, 
claiming for them most of the honor of the campaign, and in- 
directly censuring'Grant, and casting unjust reflections upon 
Sherman and McPherson. These officers protested to Grant, 
sending him a copy%f the order which they had cut from a 
newspaper. This was the first information which Grant had 
received of the existence of such an order, McClemand hav- 
ing failed to directly transmit to him a copy as required by 
regulations. Grant enquired of McClemand if the newspa- 
per copy was correct, and if so, why he had not complied 
with the rules of the service, in forwarding it to army head- 
quarters. INIcClemand's answer was defiant in the extreme. 
Grant, therefore, relieved him from command, and assigned 
Ord to the Thirteenth corps. This secured entire harmony 
throughout the army. 

McPherson's mine in front of Logan's division was exploded 
at four o'clock, P. M., on the 26th of June, throwing a number 
of rebels and a large column of earth high into the air, shak- 
ing the ground for several hundred yards like an earthquake, 
and leveling the salient of Fort Hill. In anticipation of this 
effect. Grant had issued orders for a demonstration along the 
lines, with an immediate assault upon that part of the rebel 
front, shaken by the explosion. The assault was made by 
John E. Smith's brigade but was unsuccessful, and after suf- 
fering severe loss the troops were withdrawn. 

By this time the heads of saps at various points had been 
pushed close up to the rebel works, and in several instances 
even into the very ditches. Orders were issued that they 
should be widened and connected so as to permit them to be 
used for the protection of troops for a general and final assault. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKxiNT. 133 

It was known from deserters, and confirmed by voluntary- 
information from the rebel pickets, that their provisions were 
nearly exhausted. Having completed all the necessary ar- 
rangements, Grant directed that the attack should be made on 
the morning of the 5th of July, but early on the morning of 
the 8d, the rebel General sent out a flag of truce with a propo- 
sition for the appointment of commissioners to arrange the 
terms of capitulation. Grant declined to leave the matter to 
commissioners or to allow any o'ther terms than those of " un- 
conditional surrender " and humane treatment to all prisoners 
of war, but signified his wilHngness to meet and confer with 
General Pemberton in regard to the arrangement of details. 
This meeting took place between the lines, in front of Mc- 
pherson's corps, and gave rise to the following ultimatum, 
submitted in writing by General Grant : 

" In conformity with the agreement of this afternoon, I will submit 
the following propositions for the surrender of the city of Vicksburg, 
public stores, etc. On your accepting the terms proposed, I will march 
in one division as a guard, and take possession at eight o'clock a. m., 
to-morrow. As soon as paroles can be made out and signed by the 
officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines ; the 
oflttcers taking with them their regimental clothing, and staff", field, and 
cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all 
their clothing, but no other property. If these conditions are accepted, 
any amount of rations you may deem necessary can be taken from the 
stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking utensils for pre- 
paring them, and thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule 
teams as one. You will be allowed to transport such articles as cannot 
be carried along. The same conditions will be allowed to all sick and 
wounded officers and privates, as fast as they become able to travel. 
The paroles of these latter must be signed, however, whilst officers are 
present authorized to sign the roll of prisoners." 

Pemberton answered as follows : 

" General— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
communication of this date, proposing terms for the surrender of this 
garrison and post. In the main, your terms are accepted ; but, in 
justice both to the honor and spirit of my troops, manifested in the 
defense of Vicksburg, I have the honor to submit the following amend- 
ments ; which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between 



134 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

US. At ten o'clock to-morrow, I propose to evacuate the works in and 
around Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and garrison under my 
command, by marching out with my colors and arms and stacking them 
in front of my present lines — after which you will take possession ; offi- 
cers to retain their side-arms and personal property, and the rights and 
property of citizens to be respected." 

Grant rejoined declining to fetter himself by any stipula- 
tions in regard to citizens ; limiting rebel officers to their 
pi-ivate baggage, side-arms, and one horse each to mounted 
officers, and giving him till nine o'clock to consider the matter. 

On these terms the surrender took place early on the 4th 
of July. By three o'clock our troops had taken possession 
of the city, and all public stores ; the gun-boats and trans- 
ports had landed at the levee ; and the troops charged with 
keeping order had gone into their camps. The rebels were 
retained as prisoners for six or eight days, till their paroles 
could be made out and properly delivered, during which time 
they were glad enough to draw their subsistence from the 
national stores.* 

Grant's losses during the entire campaign were 943 killed, 
7,095 wounded, and 537 missing ; total, 8,575, of whom 4,236 
were killed and wounded before Vicksburg. 

The rebels surrendered 21,000 effective men, and 6,000 
wounded in hospital ; besides over 120 guns of all calibers, 
with many thousand small arms. 

As soon as it was known that Vicksburg would surrender. 
Grant reinforced Sherman, and sent him to drive off Johnston. 
The march was begun promptly, and pushed with celerity to 
Jackson, whither Johnston fled. He was dislodged from there, 
however, in a short time, and continued his retreat toward 
Meridian. Sherman did not follow him further, on account 
of the exceedingly hot weather, and the great scarcity of 

* " Southern History of the "War," Vol. ii. p. 74. " The statement that the 
garrison of Vicksburg was surrendered on account of an inexorable distress, 
in which the soldiers had to feed on mules, witli the occasional luxury of rats, 
is either to be taken as a designing falsehood, or as the crudities of that fool- 
ish newsp.iper romance so common in the war. In neither case does it merit 
refutation." 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 135 

water in the country east of the Pearl Biver. It was also 
thought that the troops were too much fatigued by the hard 
work of the siege to venture upon a campaign of indefinite 
duration at that time. Grant, therefore, permitted Sherman 
to return to the Black River, and to go into camp with his 
own corps, sending the rest of his forces to their respective 
corps. 

During the siege of Vicksburg, the rebels on the west side 
of the Mississippi, were very active in striving to annoy the 
troops along the river, and to interrupt our communications, 
but under the efficient command of General Hugh T. lieid, at 
Lake Providence, and General Dennis, at Milliken's Bend, 
they were foiled and finally driven back with considerable 

loss. 

At Milliken's Bend, on the 6th of June, the colored troops 
fought their first battle in the West and with the assistance 
of the gun-boats and a small regiment of white troops, de- 
feated a force of 2,500 or 3,000 rebels under McCulloch. 
Dennis' force consisted of 1,410 effective men. He lost 127 
killed, 287 wounded, and 300 missing ; while the rebels lost 
150 killed, and 300 wounded. 

On the 4th of July, Lieutenant-General Holmes, then com- 
manding the trans-Mississippi department, with a force of 
about 8,000 men, under Generals Price, Parsons, Marma- 
duke, Fagan, McRae, and Walker, made a vigorous attack 
upon General Prentiss at Helena, whose garrison consisted 
of 3,800 effective men, behind strongly constructed and well 
armed earth-works. The action lasted nearly all day, but 
thanks to the bravery of the troops, the good manage ;nent of 
Generals Prentiss and Solomon, and the timely assistance of 
the gun-boats, the rebels were defeated. Their loss amounted 
to 173 killed, 687 wounded, and 1,100 prisoners, total, 1,960 ; 
while Prentiss lost fewer than 250, all told. 

Immediately after the fall of Vicksburg, Grant sent Her- 
ron's division to re-enforce Banks at Port Hudson, which 
surrendered on the 8th of July ; thus giving us 10,000 more 
prisoners and 50 guns. These were also fruits of the great 



106 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

campaign which Grant had just finished, and should be 
credited to him almost as much as to Banks. 

Eansom was sent to Natchez to break up the bu^^iness of 
bringing cattle from Texas for the support of the rebel army. 
That active officer did his duty admirably, capturing some 
5,000 head, 2,000 of which were sent to Banks, and the 
others issued to the army of the Tennessee. 

It is to be regretted that the limits of this book will not 
permit us to go more fully into the details of the operations 
we have just described. The marches, skirmishes and battles 
of the various regiments, brigades and divisions ; the bravery, 
constancy and devotion of officers ; the patience, ingenuity 
and patriotism of the private soldiers, are all worthy of at- 
tention from the historian, and it is to be hoped will some day 
receive it. 

The campaign was a vital blow to the rebel power in the 
South-west. It severed the Confederacy, opened the Missis- 
sippi River to New Orleans, and released a large force of 
national troops for operations farther to the eastward. Grant 
became thenceforth the central figure of our military history. 
The country hailed him with unfeigned delight and sincerity 
as the only General who was always successful. The stories 
against his private character, which had been so generally 
circulated, were now disclaimed and disbelieved, and he was 
justly looked upon not only as a successful and meritorious 
General, but as a pure and unselfish man, equally above 
private vices and ignoble fears. Mr. Lincoln, who seems 
up to this time to have regarded him with suspicion if not 
with al-olute distrust, and to have done him injustice in 
thought if not in action, wrote him the letter which follows, 
reflecting as much credit upon the honest nature of the writer 
as it did justice to Grant : 

" Executive Mansion, July 13, 18G3. 
" To MA-Ton-GEXERAL Graxt — J/y Dear General : I do not remember 
that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful ac- 
knowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the 
country. I wish to say further: when you first reached the vicinity of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 137 

Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did,— march the 
troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports and thus 
go below ; and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you 
knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could 
succeed. "When you got below and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and 
vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General Banks ; 
and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was 
a mistake. I now wish to make a personal acknowledgment that you 
were right and I was wrong. Yours very truly, 

''A. LiKCOLN." 

Grant was neither elated nor made vain by his victories. 
Nor did he, like some of our Generals, imagine that he had 
done enough, and ask to go home, or to be permitted to take 
a rest. He busied himself in consolidating his conquest, re- 
organizing his command, and aiding the poor negroes who 
had fled from slavery, by publishing regulations for their 
government and encouragement. He also issued orders au- 
thorizing furloughs to be given to the most worthy of the 
soldiers, and took particular care to see that they should not 
be required to pay unreasonable fare upon the steamboats 
navigating the river which they had done so much to open. 

In August, a public dinner was tendered him by the loyal 
citizens of Memphis, which he accepted, in a letter as re- 
markable for its brevity as for the patriotic sentiments which 
it contained. He wrote : " In accepting this testimonial, 
which I do at great sacrifice of personal feelings, I simply 
desire to pay a tribute to the first public exhibition in Mem- 
phis, of loyalty to the Government which I represent ia 
the Department of the Tennessee. I should dislike to refuse, 
for considerations of personal convenience, to acknowledge 
anywhere or in any form, the existence of sentiments which 
I have so long and so ardently desired to see manifested in 
this department. The staUlity of this Government, a7id the 
unity of this nation, depend solely on the cordial support and 
the earnest loyalty of the people.''^ 

These words are not less appropriate to-day than they were 
then, and should be engraved deeply upon the heart of every 
American citizen. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

SITUATION OP AFFAIRS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY — ROSECRANS AT 
CHICKAMAUGA — GRANT ORDERED TO LOUISVILLE — MEETS STANTON 
AT INDIANAPOLIS — ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND OF THE MILITARY 
DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI — ROSECRANS RELIEVED BY THOMAS — 
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND BESIEGED IN CHATTANOOGA — GRANT 
TELEGRAPHS TO THOMAS — GOES TO CHATTANOOGA — BRAGG ON 
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN — PRECARIOUS SITUATION OF THE ARMY OF 
THE CUMBERLAND — GRANT EQUAL TO THE EMERGENCY — REPOS- 
SESSION OF LOOKOUT VALLEY — SHERMAN APPROACHING FROM 
MEMPHIS — PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE — BRAGG'S MESSAGE — BAT- 
TLE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN — BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA — GRANT's 
GENERALSHIP— NOTE — ORGANIZATION OF UNITED STATES FORCES 
— ORGANIZATION OF REBEL FORCES. 

At the termination of the VIcksburg campaign, military 
operations in the Mississippi Valley were conducted by three 
different armies : the army of the Tennessee under Grant, the 
army of the Cumberland under Kosecrans, and the army of 
the Ohio under Burnside. It will be remembered that in 
January 18G3, General Grant recommended the consolidation 
of the various departments of the AVest into one command. 
His brilliant success on the Mississippi River, followed as it 
was by the bloody defeat of Rosecrans at Chickamauga, se- 
cured for that sound strategic advice, consideration which it 
ought to have received months before, and which wOuld prob- 
ably have saved the national cause the disaster of Chicka- 
mauga, which was a legitimate result of Halleck's dispersive 
policy. During the Vicksburg campaign, Johnston detached 
a considerable force from Bragg, leaving him largely outnum- 
bered by the force in his front. General Hurlbut, who com- 
manded in West Tennessee, through his admirable system of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 139 

scouts, obtained timely notice of this detachment, as well as 
an accurate estimate of Bragg's remaining force, which he 
sent to Eosecrans without delay. The Government urged 
Eosecrans to avail himself of the chance thus given him, but 
he delayed till too late. "When he did move, the rebels re- 
treated rapidly, through Chattanooga. 

Eosecrans pressed on with widely scattered forces, and full 
of exultation at the success of his plans. But Vicksburg had 
fallen, and Lee had been driven from Pennsylvania by the 
splendid victory of Gettysburg. Throwing themselves strictly 
on the defensive in the East and South-west, the rebel au- 
thorities availed themselves of the lull in operations elsewhere 
and strongly re-enforced Bragg by sending Buckner from 
East Tennessee, Longstreet from Virginia and Polk from Ala- 
bama. Bragg now turned suddenly upon Eosecrans with an 
overwhelming force and Chickamauga was the result. Had 
active military operations been entrusted to the administration 
of one judicious commander, such as Grant proved himself to 
be, this could not have happened, for he would have either 
moved the various armies at one time, in sufficient strength to 
make each successful, or he would have strengthened one by 
detachments from the others to such an extent as to have ren- 
dered its success a matter of perfect certainty; while the 
others in their weakened condition would have been kept on 
the defensive, or used subordinately to assist the grand army. 
As usual, however, the country and its civil administration 
learned this obvious lesson only after it had been printed in 
tlie bloody characters of defeat. 

Shortly after the battle of Chickamauga, Grant was di- 
rected to send re-enforcements across the country to Eose- 
crans, and on the 10th of October, he started from Vicksburg 
for the purpose of receiving orders for his future movements 
at Cairo. At the latter place he was directed to proceed to 
Louisville ; and at Indianapolis he was met by Mr. Stanton, 
the energetic and capable Secretary of War, who, after con- 
ferring fully with him, issued the following order, dated at 
Washington, October 16th: 



140 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 

"By direction of the President of the United States, the Depart- 
ments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the Tennessee, will 
constitute the Military Division of the Mississippi. Major-General U. 
S. Grant, United States Army,* is placed in command of the Military 
Division of the Mssissippi, with his head-quarters in the field." 

At Grant's request Eosecrans was relieved from the com- 
mand of the Department and Army of the Cumberland, and 
replaced by that able, unconquerable, and modest soldier, Gen- 
eral George H. Thomas ; while Sherman was assigned to the 
army of the Tennessee. f 

The Army of the Cumberland was besieged in Chatta- 
nooga, and its supplies were almost entirely cut off, so that 
the tenure of that place, which had cost already so much, 
was regarded as exceedingly precarious. Grant, therefore, 
telegraphed at once to Thomas to hold on at all hazards ; to 
which Thomas grimly replied : " We'll hold the town till we 
starve." The next day Grant went forward by rail, accom- 
panied by his old staff, to Bridgeport, and thence rode across 
the mountains, by a circuitous and difficult road, to Chatta- 
nooga, reaching that place or? the night of the 23d, after 
lying out upon the mountains in a drenching rain, and re- 
ceiving a severe bruise from his horse falling upon him. 
This bruise was rendered the more painful from the fact that 
he had not recovered from a serious Injury received in a simi- 
lar manner at New Orleans several weeks before. With his 
usual directness and promptitude, he set to work at once to 
rescue the army from its peril, and to prepare it for final 
victory. As before stated, Bragg had closely invested Chat- 
tanooga. By taking possession of Lookout Mountain, and 

* Grant was promoted to be Major-General in the regular army as a reward 
for his victories during the campaign of Vickshurg; his commission was 
dated July 4th 1863. 

tThe entire force now under Grant, consisted of the Fourth, Ninth, 
Eleventh, Twelfth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth corps, 
commanded respectively by Generals Gordon Granger, Potter, Howard, SIo- 
cum, J. M. Palmer, Blair, Ilurlbut, and McPherson. Thomas commanded 
the Fourth and Fourteenth corps ; Sherman the Fifteentli, Sixteenth, and 
Seventeenth ; Hooker the Eleventh and Twelfth, from the Army of the Po- 
tomac, and Burnside the Ninth and a part of the Twenty-third under Manson 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 141 

tlu'owing a corps into Lookout Yalley, he had also cut off 
its communication with Bridgeport and Stevenson, the base 
of supplies, both by rail and river. The next best line was 
by a poor wagon road along the north side of the Tennessee, 
but the river being only a few hundred yards wide, the rebels 
also closed this road by an effective fire from their sharp- 
shooters. This left no other available route but two paths, 
for they can not be called roads, across the Cumberland 
mountains, the shortest of which was about fifty miles, and 
the other about eighty, and as the rains were now becoming 
frequent, they soon got to be almost entirely impassable for 
even empty wagons. By the 1st of November they were so 
bad that a first-class six mule team, could not haul more than 
six hundred pounds of provisions, besides the forage for the 
team, from Bridgeport to Chattanooga; and in many cases 
after getting through, the mules were too much reduced to 
return with the empty wagon. It is estimated by the quar- 
termaster's department, that ten thousand mules and artillery 
horses died there from starvation during the months of October 
and November. The prospect was unpromising In the high- 
est degree. The troops were reduced to quarter rations and 
very scant ones at that ; but fortunately a good supply of 
ammunition yet remained on hand. Under these circum- 
stances there was no salvation for the army but In opening a 
line by which supplies could be brought to It. Even a re- 
treat, had It ever been thought of, could not have been made 
through the mountains, except by the abandonment of ar- 
tillery, trains, and baggage of every sort. After a rapid 
but careful study of the entire situation. Grant decided to 
adopt the plan already partially matured by General Thomas 
and his Chief Engineer, General William F. Smith, having 
for its Immediate object the repossession of Lookout Val- 
ley and the re-establishment of rail, steamboat and wagon 
communication, by the way of Brown's Ferry with Bridgeport. 
In order to carry this plan Into effect, Plooker, with the 
Eleventh and Twelfth corps, was directed to cross the Ten- 
nessee at Bridgeport, and to march via Shellmound and 



142 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Whiteside, across the Raccoon Mountains, to Wauhatchie and 
the lower end of Lookout Valley. General Palmer was 
sent with a division of the Fourteenth corps from Chat- 
tanooga by the north side of the river to make a demon- 
stration, and to cross at Kelly's Ferry, for the purpose 
of supporting General Hooker, should it become necessary ; 
while Smith, with eighteen hundred picked men, under the 
immediate command of General Hazen, was directed to em- 
bark in pontoons at Chattanooga, float under cover of dark- 
ness by the rebel lines at Lookout, land at Brown's Ferry, 
and there secure a bridge head for the protection of the pon- 
toon bridge to be constructed at that place. These delicate 
operations were so handsomely combined as to result in per- 
fect success. Smith seized the heights, covering the ferry, on 
the night of October 27th, fortified them without delay, and 
laid his bridge in a short time. Hooker's column, composed 
of Howard's corps and Geary's division of Slocum's corps, de- 
bouched into the valley early the next day, having met with no 
serious resistance. Communication was opened at once with 
Smith, and arrangements made for bringing forward supplies. 
The rebels were taken completely by surprise, but 
were not dismayed by the success of General Grant's com- 
binations. From the top of Lookout Mountain they looked 
down into Hooker's camp, which unfortunately had been 
somewhat widely scattered, and took the sudden resolution of 
falling upon him, by surprise. Accordingly after midnight 
of the 28th, McLaw's division of Longstreet's corps, sallied 
from its camp on the heights of Lookout, and after a march 
of two miles rushed confidently upon the camp of Geary's 
division at "VYauhatchie. But Geary (now Governor of Penn- 
sylvania) although surprised, formed his gallant veterans 
as best he could, and stood bravely to the defense of his posi- 
tion. The rebel onset, made with unearthly yells, was at first 
successful ; but Howard being near at hand, pushed at once 
towards the firing, and between the two forces the rebels were 
soon repulsed, leaving their dead and wounded upon the field. 
The next day Hooker redistributed his forces, and began the 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 143 

construction of works, the better to enable them to cover the 
newly established supply lines. Grant directed the fortifica- 
tion of the passes in the Eaccoon Mountains, and stationed 
detachments near them, so that the river from Bridgeport to 
Chattanooga was soon firmly under his control. Steamboats 
were built, old ones were repaired, the railroad bridges were 
replaced, pontoon bridges across the Tennessee were laid, 
wagons and mules were brought from the rear. With these 
things the hungry army soon found all its wants bountifully 
supplied. The depression which had followed Chickamauga, 
was rapidly replaced by a confident spirit of aggression. 
Sherman with his army of swift marching veterans, was 
known to be approaching by the way of Corinth, Decatur, and 
Stevenson, and, as if to give to our confidence the assurance 
of success, the rebels were about to commit a fatal error. 

Burnside, with the Army of the Ohio, acting with entire In- 
dependence of Rosecrans, advanced from Camp Nelson in Ken- 
tucky, by the way of Cumberland Gap, into East Tennessee, 
about the 1st of August. He took possession of Knoxville 
and the rich region lying about it as far down the valley as 
the line of the Hiawassee. Early in November, Bragg de- 
tached Longstreet with a strong force to drive Burnside from 
East Tennessee. The rebel movement had hardly begun be- 
fore it became known to Grant. He at once sent the Assist- 
ant Secretary of War, who was with him, and one of his 
own staff officers, to Burnside, with instructions to hold on 
to Knoxville, disputing all the ground he could with Long- 
street, and keeping him engaged as closely as possible, during 
the execution of movements which were to be made against 
Bragg. Sherman was now approaching rapidly, and it was 
hoped that everything would be in readiness for the final blow 
by the middle of the month. But bad roads, swollen streams, 
railroad building and the want of bridges across the streams 
in Northern Alabama, together with the efforts of a small 
force of rebels under S. D. Lee and Eoddy, delayed Sherman 
till about the 20th. Grant had become exceedingly impatient 
to relieve Burnside, and fixed the 21st for the attack upon the 



144 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

enemy ; but the Tennessee Elver had begun to rise rapidly, 
and against the greatly increased currents it became exceed- 
ingly difficult to keep the pontoon bridges in place. They 
were frequently swept away, but as frequently repaired. 
Hence the concentration of the troops was delayed. In spite 
of all that could be done, Osterhaus' division had to be left 
in Lookout Valley, thus reducing Sherman's forces to about 
twenty thousand men, the last of whom reached the posi- 
tion assigned them on the 23d, immediately after which the 
more active operations began. 

On the 20th the rebel army occupied a position extending 
from Missionary Ridge across the Chattanooga Valley to Look- 
out Mountain, with an advanced line well up against the na- 
tional defenses, but they had evidently begun to feel some 
apprehension for their situation. Bragg adopted the cheap 
and rather transparent device of sending a message to Grant 
in which he deemed it proper to inform him " that prudence 
would dictate " the early removal of the non-combatants yet 
remaining in Chattanooga. Grant paid no further attention 
to this message than to hurry his preparations. His plan of 
operations was to attack the rebels on both flanks at the same 
time, and when they should be sufficiently shaken, to throw 
his whole army upon them, — and finish the work with a 
single crushing blow. In order to accomplish this, Sherman 
was directed to cross the Tennessee River, just at the mouth 
of the South Chickamauga, by means of a pontoon bridge, and 
to move at once against the enemy's position along Mission 
Ridge. Thomas, re-enforced by Howard's corps, occupying 
the works of Chattanooga, was to drive back the rebel center 
and throwing forward his left to connect with Sherman ; while 
Hooker, with Slocum's corps and Osterhaus' division, was 
directed to drive the rebels from the end of Lookout Mount- 
ain—and connecting with Thomas — to continue pressing them 
as long as they could be found. The entire army was pro- 
vided with two days' cooked rations in haversacks, and one 
hundred rounds of ammunition per man. Nothing which 
could be done was left undone. A cavalry expedition was 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 145 

2:)repared to follow Sherman across the Tennessee, for the pur- 
pose of severing the railroad from Dalton to Knoxville, and 
thus cutting off the chance of withdrawing Longstreet in 
time for him to take part in the battle. After this plan had 
been fully matured, a rebel deserter came in and informed 
Grant that Bragg was retiring. This, in connection with the 
message already referred to, caused Grant to order Thomas 
to move out a heavy force and feel the enemy's lines. This 
was done on the afternoon of the 23d. Wood's division was 
in front, Sheridan's division of the Fourth corps, and the 
Fourteenth corps under Palmer supporting, Howard in reserve. 
The troops were drawn out with such regularity and formed 
with such precision, that the rebel Generals, who witnessed it 
from INlission Eidge and Lookout, thought they were having 
a general parade and review ; but they were undeceived in a 
few minutes, by the rapid advance of Wood's division, and a 
vigorous fire from the heavy guns of Fort Wood. Wood con- 
tinued his regular advance to the foot of Orchard Knoll, an 
outlying ridge parallel to Missionary Ridge, when he ordered 
a charge, which was gallantly made, and resulted in the cap- 
ture of that part of the enemy's advanced line, notwithstand- 
ing a determined effort to hold it. Sheridan was posted on 
Wood's right, while Palmer was thrown forward in echelon. 
Entrenchments were rapidly thrown up, and by night were 
strong enough to resist any attack likely to be made upon 
them. This was a timely movement, as it caused Bragg to 
recall a division Avhich he had just started to re-enforce Long- 
street, and which would have given that General a great pre- 
ponderance over Bumside. While this demonstration was 
taking place, the materials for Sherman's bridge had been 
quietly collected by General Smith, now Grant's Chief En- 
gineer, near the place intended for the crossing. The troops 
were concealed behind the hills, and everything in readiness. 
Before dawn of the 24th a large force was thrown to the op- 
posite side of the river, and by noon, through the aid of the 
steamer Dunbar, under the charge of one of Grant's staff 

officers, two divi,*ions had reached the south ?ide of the river. 
10 



146 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRA^'T. 

The bridge was constructed rapidly, and by the middle of the 
afternoon Sherman's entire force held possession of the north- 
ern end of Missionary Kidge, as far as the railroad crossing. 
A strono" line of entrenchments was thrown up at once to 
render the position secure against all mishaps. 

Hooker began his movement from Lookout Valley the 
same day, at four o'clock in the morning. Crossing Look- 
out Creek with difficulty, owing to its swollen condition, he 
drove back the rebel pickets, captured the rebel camps and 
rifle-pits, with a number of prisoners, and by noon began the 
ascent of Lookout Mountain. Wood (S. C), Gross, Geary, 
Osterhaus, and Cruft, cheered forward their men, scrambling 
as best they could over the rugged and broken ground, 
through trees and vines, up the steep mountain's side, in face 
of determined resistance. By two o'clock the whole mount- 
ain-slope was carried ; and by four, was so thoroughly forti- 
fied as to make its tenure certain. Communication was es- 
tablished at once with Thomas' right, and a bridge was built 
across Chattanooga Creek, by which, late in the evening, Car- 
lin's brigade was sent to re-enforce Hooker. This brigade 
was posted on the extreme right of Hooker's line, relieving 
Geary's jaded men. Shortly after taking possession of the 
hastily constructed works, Carlin received a determined attack 
from the rebels, who were easily repelled. Seeing now that 
it was useless to struggle longer, they descended from the 
mountain-top, under cover of darkness, crossed the Chatta- 
nooga Valley, and joined Bragg on Missionary Ridge, leav- 
ing their rations and camp equipage in the hands of their 
assailants. Carlin's battle, after darkness had fully set in, as 
viewed from the town below, was one of the most interesting 
sights of the war. 

The same afternoon, Howard moved out from Chattanooga, 
with one brigade of his corps, by the road nearest the river, 
crossed Citico Creek, and formed a junction with Sherman. 
Grant's entire army was thus united with its left flank iij firm 
possession of the end of Missionary Ridge, threatening Cbick- 
amauga Station and the enemy's rear, the center holding 



I 



LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 147 

Orchard Knoll and the strong fortifications of Chattanooo-a, 
while Hooker, on the swinging flank, looked, menacino- and 
secure, from the heights of Lookout. So far, not a single 
mishap had occurred. Every movement had been made xvith 
perfect precision, and every movement Avas entirely success- 
ful. Grant felt confident of the result which must follow, and 
issued orders for the renewal of the action at early dawn. 

Sherman had the post of difficulty, as it was evident the 
rebels would make their best fight in his front. During the 
night he had strengthened his position, and gathered his forces 
fur an early attack, upon the heavily wooded ridges before 
hirn. The rebel General had not been idle, but seeing the 
full measure of his danger had strongly re-enforced his right. 
All night long the sound of falling trees betokened his activity 
in the construction of breastworks and rifle trench. The 
ground separating Sherman from the enemy's right was 
heavily wooded, and much broken by tranverse ridges and 
ravines, almost as susceptible of defense as the front face of 
the main ridge itself Sherman examined it carefully in per- 
son. It was already sunrise before his bugles sounded for- 
ward. The main attack was made by the Fortieth Illinois, 
Forty-sixth Ohio, and Twentieth Ohio, of Corse's brigade, 
Ewing's division, led by Corse in person, with his usual in- 
trepidity ; and although pressed with great determination, 
it was unsuccessful in breaking the enemy's line. Corse was 
severely wounded, and carried from the field. His place was 
filled by Colonel Wolcott of the Forty-sixth Ohio. Loomis' 
brigade on the right, liannis' and Mathias' brigades of John 
E. Smith's division ; Morgan L. Smith's division, Bushbeck's 
brigade of Howard's corps, and, in fact, Sherman's entire 
force, pressed forward at the same time, continuing the action 
hotly till the middle of the afternoon ; and although they 
gained much ground, they could not drive the enemy from 
his stronghold. Artillery was freely used on both sides. 
Sherman pressed his attack so closely and incessantly that 
Bragg gradually massed the bulk of his forces for the defense 
of his right. Grant anxiously watched the progress of the bat- 



148 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

tie from Orchard Knoll, over two miles away, waiting for the 
si^ns of success before orderingi; Thomas to advance. He saw 
plainly the continuous movement of the rebels in that direction 
along the crest above him, and at three o'clock witnessed 
the repulse of Sherman's right, under John E. Smith. INIean- 
while Hooker had descended from the top of Lookout, and 
was well on his way towards the extreme left of Bragg's line. 
The time had come for the Army of the Cumberland to be 
revenged for the defeat of Chickamauga. Turning to Thomas, 
who had also been anxiously watching the events of the battle. 
Grant ordered him to attack. Six guns were fired in rapid 
succession from Orchard Knoll as a signal for the advance, 
and promptly the eager troops who had so long been strain- 
ing at the leash, sprang forward, arrayed in splendid order, and 
covered by a heavy cloud of skirmishers. Baird on the left, 
Wood and Sheridan * in the centre, Johnson on the right, 
and, still further to the right, Hooker, with Geary and Oster- 
haus, led their gallant volunteers intrepidly to the assault. 
The rebel rifle-pits, the special object of their attack, at the 
foot of the hill, were carried like a flash, and yet eight hun- 
dred feet above stood the main rebel line pouring forth a 
deadly fire of musketry and artillery. With one of those 
wild and unaccountable impulses originating in the native 
sagacity of men and officers alike, the national soldiers, by 
regiment, brigade and division, rushed forward to the heights, 
pausing only now and then to regain their breath, and then 
to dash on again with renewed vigor. Clambering over rocks 
and through bushes, lifting themselves by thrusting their bayo- 
nets into the ground, or by catching hold of limbs and twigs, 
they finally reached the crest and swept the rebel lines away 
like chaff before the whirlwind. Baird turned towards Sher- 
man, Sheridan pressed straight forward towards the Chicka- 
mauga, and Hooker swept along the crest towards the center. 

* During the momentary pause after carrying the rifle-pits, Sheridan rode 
to the front, bowed to the rebels, took out liis flask, and raised it to his lips. ! 
The rebels, only a few hundred yards away, saw him plainly, ceased firing for 
the moment, and cheered him lustily. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 149 

Nothing could stay these converging and exultant columns. 
The rebels were routed and driven entirely from the field, 
never stopping till they had passed Chickamauga Creek. 
Grant seeing his gallant soldiers clambering up the mountain 
side, could restrain himself no longer ; turning to Granger 
who had been wasting his time with a battery of artillery, he 
ordered him with energy to join his corps, and then attended 
by his staff galloped rapidly to the front. Ascending the 
ridge, he was hailed by the wounded, forgetful of their bloody 
faces and broken limbs, with acclamations of delight : "We've 
gained the day, General;" "All we wanted was a leader;" 
" We are even ivith them now for Chickamauga!'^ But Grant 
pressed on to the very front, exposing himself fearlessly to 
the heaviest fire of the enemy. He wished to see for himself 
that the victory was complete. Darkness soon put an end to 
the general pursuit, though Sheridan continued it as far as 
the Chickamauga, guided by the fire of his own and the 
enemy's rifles, taking prisoners and harassing the rebels till 
after midnight. 

Grant informed Halleck of his success in the following terms : 
"Although the battle lasted from early dawn till dark this 
evening, I believe I am not premature in announcing a com- 
plete victory over Bragg." 

The pursuit was renewed by the army at an early hour the 
next day ; Sherman marching by the way of Chickamauga 
Station ; Hooker and Palmer by the Eossville road towards 
Ringgold and Dalton. Late in the afternoon, Hooker came 
up with the rear guard of the rebel army under Cleburne, 
strongly posted in the gorge of White Oak Ridge, and along 
the crest of Taylor's Ridge, twenty-two miles from Chatta- 
nooga, and after a gallant attack, received a bloody check ; 
but this was only temporary. The rebels continued their 
retreat as far as Dalton, where they halted, and took up a 
strong position. Grant's army had not yet re-established its 
transportation, and was too weak in the means of moving its 
artillery to continue the campaign. The rebels had burned 
the railroad bridges and withdrawn all their cars, and Grant 



150 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

had none nearer tlian Bridgeport, in Alabama, with no means 
of getting them across the Tennessee, or the great gorge in 
the Raccoon mountains at "Whiteside ; the country had al- 
ready been stripped of its scanty supplies ; it was therefore 
entirely out of the question to think of subsisting his army, 
even a day's march from Chattanooga. Then, too, Burnside 
was still in imminent and increasing danger. He had already 
been shut up in Knoxville, and had informed Grant that 
his supplies were limited, and- that he could not possibly hold 
out longer than ten or twelve days. Under these circum- 
stances Grant was reluctantly compelled to suspend further 
pursuit of Bragg's demoralized army, to withdraw Thomas 
into Chattanooga, and to send Sherman, with a larger force, 
to raise the siege of Knoxville. 

The battle of Chattanooga, is one of the most remarkable 
in history, and reflects infinite credit upon Grant's general- 
ship, as well as upon the good management of his subordi- 
nates, and the courage and endurance of the men composing 
the army. The precision and promptitude with which every 
movement was carried out, from that against the rebels in 
Lookout Valley to the final assault of the rebel center on 
Missionary Ridge, are models for future Generals to imitate. 
The assault of Lookout, the passage of the Tennessee, and 
the lodgment upon the enemy's flank, — all necessary prelim- 
inaries to the final assault, — were combined and conducted 
with the regularity of clock-work. Grant was nobly sec- 
onded by Sherman, Thomas, Hooker, and his own staflP, as 
well as by a splendid array of subordinate commanders ; but 
it is only just to add that his own capacity, courage, and 
magnanimity, have secured for him the chief honor of that 
glorious triumph. 

Bragg's loss in killed and wounded, during this battle, is 
not known, but could not have been less than 10,000, all told, 
as he left G,142 prisoners, with 7,000 small arms, 40 guns, and 
many colors, in the hands of the victors. Grant's losses, ex- 
clusive of Burnside's in East Tennessee, as derived from the 
reports of the corps commanders, were 6,801 killed, wounded 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 151 

and missing. As usual with the rebels, notwithstandino' their 
great advantage in position, they claimed to have lost the bat- 
tle by being largely outnumbered, but if this was true it was 
due again to Grant's superior generalship. There is no surer 
way, all other things being favorable, to conduct war success- 
fully than by managing so as to outnumber the enemy, at the 
vital point during the hour of battle. 



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CHATTANOOGA, KNOXYILLE, ATLANTA 



CHAPTER XVII. 

LOXGSTUEET INVADES EAST TENNESSEE — BURNSIDE ATTACKS HIM 
NEAK LOUDON — AFFAIRS AT CAMPBELL'S STATION — CAVALRY FIGHT 
NEAR KNOXVILLE — KNOXVILLE BESIEGED — ASSAULT ON FORT SAN- 
DERS — REBELS REPULSED — GRANGER AND SHERMAN ORDERED TO 
KNOXVILLE — SIEGE RAISED — SHERMAN RETURNS TO CHATTANOOGA 
— BURNSIDE RELIEVED — FOSTER TAKES COMMAND — OPERATIONS 
SUSPENDED BY COLD WEATHER — REJOICING FOR VICTORY AT CHAT- 
TANOOGA — CONGRESS VOTES GRANT A GOLD MEDAL — MOVEMENT 
TO REVIVE THE GRADE OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. 

As before stated, Longstreet, who had been detached from 
Bragg's army before the battle of Chattanooga, marched 
leisurely into East Tennessee ; his object being to drive out 
Burnslde, to repossess the fertile vallies of that region, and 
to bring again under rebel sway, its patriotic and Union- 
loving citizens. He crossed the Tennessee at Loudon, on 
the 14th of November, and immediately took up his march 
towards Knoxville. Burnside had, in the meantime, been 
instructed to concentrate his forces in front of the enemy, 
and retard his progress in every possible way, without jeop- 
arding the safety of his own command. The main body of 
his army, (not over 12,000 strong,) was then at Lenoir's 
Station, a few miles above the mouth of the Holston, where, 
under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Babcock, it had 
built an excellent pontoon bridge, and was thus enabled to 
move in any direction. When it became positively known 
that Longstreet was advancing, Burnside ordered the de- 
struction of the bridge, and prepared for battle ; assuming 
command in person, he marched from Lenoir's, and attacked 
the rebel advanced forces, giving them a sharp and decided 



154 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

check. He then fell hack slowly along the main road to 
Knoxville. Selecting a strong position at Campbell's Sta- 
tion, he formed his little army and waited for the attack. 
The rebels soon closed upon him, but were again brought to 
a stand, suffering severe loss in every effort to dislodge him. 
But it was not Burnside's object to do more than delay and 
cripple the movements of the enemy. He had been cautioned 
particularly not to hazard the loss of his army, nor to jeopard 
the safety of Knoxville, by a decided battle in the open field ; 
he therefore withdrew to the fortifications of the city, already 
prepared and provisioned as well as circumstances would per- 
mit, to receive his forces. His cavalry, under General San- 
ders, (a promising and zealous officer,) had anticipated the 
movements of the rebel cavalry under Wheeler, and by a 
well delivered battle, in which Sanders was mortally wounded, 
had frustrated the attempt to take Knoxville by a coup de 
main. 

On the 17th of November, Longstreet arrived In front of 
the place, and on the 18th made a complete investment on the 
west side of the Holston, but found the city too well manned 
and too strongly fortified to venture at once upon an assault. 
After some desultory fighting, he therefore determined to 
starve it out. He was soon afterwards re-enforced by Jones, 
and one or two small commands from Virginia, and made a 
disposition of his forces with the view of cutting off Burn- 
side's supplies. In this process, which required time, he was 
rudely interrupted by the intelligence of Bragg's defeat. He 
was too good a General to waste more time in perfecting the 
starvation process, and immediately decided to venture alone 
upon an assault of the fortifications. Accordingly, on tlic 
morning of the 29th, he threw three brigades of McLaw's 
division with terrible energy upon Fort Sanders, near the 
north-western angle of Burnside's works, supporting them 
with the rest of his force. They rushed up the heights, 
through the entanglements. Into the ditches, and finally reaclidl 
the parapet, but could go no further. The fort was held by 
Benjamin's regular battery of twenty-pounder parrots, su])- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 155 

ported by the Seventy-ninth New York, Twenty-ninth Massa- 
chusetts, and detachments from the Second New York and the 
Twentieth Michigan. Every man did his duty nobly; the 
double-shotted guns were served with great precision and 
coolness by their gallant young commander; lighted shells 
were thrown into the ditches as hand grenades, and the in- 
fantry poured out a deadly and incessant fire. The rebels 
were repulsed again and again, and finally driven from the 
hill entirely, leaving the ditch filled wnth killed and wounded, 
besides many who would not risk the almost certain death of 
retreating under the infernal fire through which they had ad- 
vanced. Longstreet's repulse cost him a thousand men, and 
gained him nothing whatever. 

Immediately after the victory at Chattanooga, Grant or- 
dered General Gordon Granger, wuth the Fourth corps, and 
detachments from the rest of the army, sufficient to bring the 
strength of his command to 20,000 muskets, to march rapidly 
to the relief of the beleaguered garrison at Knoxville ; but 
that officer, who had been selected out of compliment to his 
behavior at the battle of Chickamauga, raised so many objec- 
tions, and lost so much time in preparations, that Grant, in 
order to make sure, also directed Sherman to go with the 
Eleventh and Fifteenth corps. Elliott, commanding Thomas' 
cavalry in Central Tennessee, was instructed at the same time 
to march rapidly into East Tennessee by the nearest route. 
Sherman, who was then at Cleveland, pushed forward with 
great celerity by the w^ay of Philadelphia, Morgantown and 
Marysville, repairing the railroad bridge across the Hiawassee, 
and bridging the httle Tennessee in two places. One of these 
bridges, two hundred and fifty yards in length, was constructed 
of timber obtained by tearing down houc&s in Morgantown, 
while the other was made by running wagons into the river, 
and building a roadway resting upon them. In the meantime, 
however, as has been seen, Longstreet had been repulsed, and 
hearing of Sherman's and Granger's movements, there was 
nothing left for him but to retire as- rapidly as possible, march- 
in ST towards Western Virginia. 



156 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRA^T. 

Sherman's advance arrived at Knoxville on the morning of 
December 4th, and Sherman himself was there on the 5th, 
leaving his army in the neighborhood of Marysville. Gran- 
ger arrived shortly afterwards. Grant's instructions required 
the total destruction of Longstreet's force, or that he should 
be expelled at once and for good from East Tennessee. Bum- 
side, however, being in command of the Department, Sher- 
man submitted the whole matter for his disposition, offering 
his troops and volunteering to go wherever it might be 
thought necessary. The former felt himself amply strong 
enough, with Granger's corps, to do all the remaining work 
of the campaign, and therefore permitted Sherman to return 
towards Chattanooga. A few days thereafter, Burnside was 
relieved by order of General Halleck, the General-in-Chief, 
and General J. G, Foster took his place. Cold weather set 
in shortly afterwards, and many of the troops being almost 
barefoot and poorly clad, the movement was suspended, in 
the neigborhood of Strawberry Plains and Dandridge. No 
serious fighting took place in that region during winter. 
Longstreet rejoined the army under Lee, in the spring. 

Sherman, withdrawing by slow marches from East Tennes- 
see, passed through Chattanooga, and was for awhile charged 
with the defense of the frontier, extending from that place 
towards Huntsville, in Northern Alabama. Late in January, 
1864, Grant sent him to Vicksburg, for the purpose of mak- 
ing an expedition from that point towards Meridian and 
Mobile. Thomas was charged with watching the rebel army 
at Dalton, now temporarily under Hardee, and with the re- 
equipment of his own army, for the spring campaign. 

The news of the splendid victory at Chattanooga, followed 
as it was by that at Knoxville, filled the loyal States with re- 
joicing. Mr. Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving "for 
this great aidvancement of the national cause;" while Con- 
gress, in grateful appreciation of the glorious victories he had 
gained, passed a joint resolution of thanks to General Grant 
and the troops which had fought under him. They also or- 
dered a gold medal, with suitable emblems and devices, to be 



1 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 157 

struck and presented to him, and Legislatures of various States 
presented him with a vote of thanks. But, better than all 
this, a movement was at once set on foot by the Hon. E. B. 
Washburne, Member of Congress from Illinois, to revive the 
grade of Lieutenant-General, and to call General Grant to the 
chief command of all the armies of the United States. This 
measure did not pass at once, but it was founded upon a just 
appreciation of what the exigency in military affairs required. 
The careful student of history will have seen how great 
victories had been won in the South-west by the concentra- 
tion of great armies, and by bringing them to operate in con- 
cert and under the leadership of one clear-headed, fearless, 
and faithful commander. Hitherto the Government had not 
found a military chieftain by whose counsels it was willing 
to be guided. McClellan had promised much and accom- 
plished little. Halleck, who was called to his place, was well 
meaning, but incapable. The President was earnest, thought- 
ful, sagacious and far-reaching in his judgment ; but he was 
too cautious to entrust the unlimited cqptrol of military op- 
eration to the hands of those about him. None of his subor- 
dinates, except Grant, had yet been so uniformly successful 
as to become entitled to unquestioning confidence. Neither 
had the President learned that the true province of the civil 
government was to provide the sinews of war — to select the 
ablest General, and to leave him free to control the armies, 
according to the true principles of warfare. Mr. Stanton, the 
able Secretary of War, appreciated this truth at an early day, 
and bent all his wonderful energy to carrying it into effect ; 
but to Mr. Washburne, more than to any one else in high 
position, is due the credit of bringing the Government to 
its final adoption. Fortunately he persisted in the advocacy 
of the bill reviving the grade of Lieutenant-General, until 
Congress, as well as the entire country, became convinced that 
nothing else but that measure, or its equivalent, — the placing 
of Grant in supreme control of the army, subject only to the 
President, his constitutional commander, — could carry the war 
for the stability of the Union to a successful termination. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

GRANT GOES TO NASHVILLE TO PERFECT MEANS OF SUPPLYING THE 
ARMIES— RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF RAILROAD LINES — GOES TO KNOX- 
VILLE — INSPECTS CUMBERLAND GAP — CROSSES THE MOUNTAINS TO 

. LEXINGTON — HARDSHIPS AND EXPOSURE — RETURNS TO NASHVILLE 
PLANS FOR FUTURE OPERATIONS — SHERMAN'S RAID TO MERID- 
IAN — DESTRUCTION OF RAILROADS — FAILURE OF CAVALRY TO 
JOIN HIM — BANKS NOT PERMITTED TO CO-OPERATE — GRANT CALLED 
TO WASHINGTON. 

As soon as the Chattanooga campaign was termuiatecl, 
Gi-ant set about acquiring a thorough knowledge of his 
vast military division extending from the Mississippi River 
on the west, and the Ohio on the north, to the borders of 
Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia on the east, and as far 
southward as he might be able to carry his armies. His 
first task was to supply and consolidate his forces, so as to 
make sure of all that had been gained, and to prepare for 
new conquests. Early in December, he went to Nashville 
to inspect and perfect the arrangements for forwarding sup- 
plies. The army in Northern Georgia depended entirely 
upon the railroads leading southward through Tennessee for 
the transportation of its military stores. The Louisville and 
Nashville Railroad was also a necessai-y link in his communi- 
cations with the North, and as it had fallen into bad manage- 
ment, a thorough reorganization became necessary. It was 
claimed by the persons controlling the roads, that they were 
already taxed to their utmost, but this was not true. Grant 
removed the military superintendent, and replaced him by an 
abler man. He also directed General Thomas to have the 
Nashville and Decatur road repaired to Decatur, and the 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 159 

Memphis and Charleston road, from Decatur to Stevenson ; 
thus giving two lines instead of one from Nashville to Bridge- 
port. The roads in East Tennessee were likewise rebuilt, and 
every encouragement was given to the authorities charged 
with the completion of the Nashville and Johnsonville road. 
But the process of building bridges, of which there were 
many, some of them vei-y extensive, and of repairing tracks and 
gathering locomotives and cars, was by no means an easy or 
rapid one. Having done all he could to get these matters 
into proper hands, in the latter part of December, Grant 
returned to Chattanooga, where he was chagrined to learn 
that operations against Longstreet in East Tennessee had 
been suspended, and that instead of being far up the valley 
towards Virginia, Granger was in Knoxville, boasting that he 
could hold that place against all sorts of impossible combina- 
tions, natural and supernatural. As a matter of course, Grant 
lost no time in hux'rying to Knoxville. Accompanied by his 
staiFand a few orderlies, he took passage to Loudon on a steam- 
boat, which had been built by the soldiers. From Loudon he 
went to Knoxville by rail, arriving there on the 4th of Janu- 
ary. After an interview with General Foster, whom he found 
suffering from an old wound received in Mexico, he went 
on to Strawberry Plains. In the meantime, intensely cold 
weather had set in, and as the troops had not yet been prop- 
erly supplied with clothing and shoes, owing to the fact that 
communication with Kentucky by wagon was almost entirely 
out of the question, and railroad communication by the way 
of Chattanooga had not yet been re-established, it was ap- 
parent that active operations could not be resumed without 
inflicting great sufFering on the army. The rebel cavalry 
were making occasional dashes upon the outposts, and some 
desultory fighting took place at intervals, as the weather 
would permit ; but seeing that no general engagement could 
be fought. Grant left instructions for the government of 
the department, and proceeded on horseback to Cumberland 
Gap. After inspecting that place, he crossed the mountains, 
and rode rapidly to Lexington, Kentucky. The journey made 



160 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

in mid-winter was one of great hardship and danger, the 
passage of the Cumberland and Wild Cat Mountains, covered 
with snow and ice, being especially difficult and perilous. 
The cold for several days was ten degrees below zero. It 
was impossible to ride down the ice-covered slopes of the 
mountain ; so Grant and his party were compelled to lead 
their horses and walk. The General, in advance, had many 
falls but suffered no serious injury. At Lexington and Frank- 
fort he was received with acclamations of joy, and urgent 
offers of hospitality, but he refused to stop, and taking the 
cars hastened to Louisville, and thence back to Nashville, 
where he established the head-quarters of the Military Di- 
vision. He was soon afterwards called to St. Louis for a 
few days, by the dangerous illness of one of his children. 
Hurrying through the country in the modest dress of a citi- 
zen, he studiously avoided all public ovations and display, 
and as soon as the danger which threatened his son had 
passed, returned in the same manner to his head-quarters. 
He did not allow himself to be idle for a day, but bent all his 
energies and ability to caring for his command and devising 
new plans of warfare against the insurgent forces. Hitherto 
military operations in the West and South-west had been con- 
nected independently of those in the East ; but since the rebel 
Teritory had been cut in twain along the line of the Missis- 
sippi, and the rebel forces had been pressed back into the 
interior of Alabama and Georgia, and to the east side of the 
Blue Ridge, it became a matter of vital importance that there 
should henceforth be a unity of plan, and effective co-opera- 
tion between the armies under Grant and the Army of the 
Potomac. To this end he studied the military situation in all 
its aspects with profound attention, making such suggestions 
to the Government as circumstances seemed to justify. It 
was about this time that the idea of severing the rebel terri- 
tory again, by conducting a campaign from Chattanooga to 
the sea-coast first presented itself to his mind. But before 
putting it into execution, he thought it necessary to thor- 
oughly repossess Alabama, particularly Mobile and Mont- 



LIFE or ULYSSES S. GRA>.T. 161 

gomery. Sherman was, therefore, sent to Ylcksburg for the 
purpose of organizing an expedition to be composed of the 
forces serving along the Mississippi River, w^ith which to 
operate towards Meridian, while Halleck was counseled to 
send Banks with all his forces against Mobile. 

In pursuance of this general plan, and also for the better 
protection of the various important points along the Missis- 
sippi River, Sherman moved from Vicksburg, on the 3d of 
February, with two divisions of the Sixteenth corps, under 
Hurlbut, two of the Seventeenth corps, under McPherson, 
and a brigade of cavalry under Colonel Winslow, of the 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry. General William Sewy Smith, Grant's 
Chief of Cavalry, was also ordered to assemble all the avail- 
able troops of that arm in West Tennessee, and to march from 
Memphis at the same time, sweeping down through Northern 
Mississippi, and joining Sherman in the neighborhood of 
Meridian. Sherman moved in two columns, and although 
confronted by Loring, French, and S. D. Lee, with a consid- 
erable fjrce of infantry and cavalry, he drove them rapidly 
back, entered Jackson on the evening of the 5th, crossed the 
Pearl River the next day, and continued his rapid march to- 
wards Meridian, pausing only to build bridges or remove ob- 
structions from the roads, and to destroy the railroad. He 
entered Meridian on the 14th, that place having been evacua- 
ted the night before by the Confederate troops under Polk in 
person. Sherman now halted his command, and after two 
day's rest, sent it out in all directions for the purpose of break- 
ing up the railroads crossing at that place: "The depots, 
store-houses, arsenals, officers' hospitals, hotels, and canton- 
ments in the town, were burned ; and during the next five 
I days, with axes, sledges, crovr-bars, claw-bars, and fire, Hurl- 
but's corps destroyed, on the north and east, 60 miles of 
} ties and iron, 1 locomotive, and 8 bridges; and McPher- 
! son's corps, on the south and west, 55 miles of railroad, 53 
; bridges, 6,075 feet of trestle-work, 19 locomotives, 28 steam 
! cars, and 3 saw-mills. Thus was completed the destruction 

of the railways for one hundred miles from Jackson to Merid- 
11 



162 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAM'. 

ian, and for twenty miles around the latter place, in so effect- 
ual a manner that thej could not be used against us in the 
approaching campaigns." * The rebels, in the meantime, had 
received re-enforcements, and on the 17th recrossed the Tom- 
bigbee, moving towards Meridian. Sherman at once concen- 
trated his command, and as Smith with the cavalry had not 
yet made his appearance, he thought it prudent to withdraw. 
This he did on the 20th, sending McPherson on the direct 
road to Jackson, and with Hurlbut and Winslow moved 
towards the Xorth for the purpose of looking for the cavalry. 
Making a wide detour without finding it, he recrossed the 
Pearl River and concentrated his forces at Canton. 

Smith did not leave Memphis till the 11th of February ; 
and although he had a force of eight thousand well mounted 
and equipped cavalry, he succeeded in getting no farther 
towards Meridian than West Point, in Mississippi, from which 
place he rapidly retreated, closely follow^ed by Forrest, on the 
22d. Banks had not been allowed, as Grant recommended, 
to operate against Mobile ; but in pursuance of a mistaken 
policy on the part of the Government, w^as shortly afterwards 
sent against the rebels west of the Mississippi. Sherman's 
campaign, thei-efore, became nothing but an extensive raid in- 
stead of being made, as it should have been, the means of 
taking Mubile and re-establishing the national control over 
both Mississippi and Alabama. 

With this raid. Grant's immediate supervision of military 
operations in the South-west terminated. He was shortly 
afterwards called to the command of all the armies of the 
United States, with ample authority to carry on the war in 
accordance with the principle which had so far given us our 
only substantial victories, namely : that of concentration 
against the detachments of the enemy. 

*" Sherman auJ l;is Campaigns," p. 161, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

GRADE OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL REVIVED — GRANT ORDERED TO 
WASHINGTON — HIS LETTER TO SHERMAN AND m'pHERSON — SHER- 
MAN'S REPLY — ADVISES GRANT TO RETURN TO THE WEST — GRANT 
ARRIVES AT WASHINGTON — RECEIVES HIS COMMISSION — THE 
president's SPEECH — GRANT'S REPLY — VISITS THE ARMY OF THE 
POTOMAC — RETURNS TO NASHVILLE — ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE 
ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES — JOINS THE ARMY OF THE POTO- 
MAC—REORGANIZATION OF ARMY AND STAFF — CHIVALRIC CON- 
DUCT — REFLECTIONS. 

On the 1st of March, 1864, the bill revivinoj the grade of 
Lieutenant-General in the armies of the United States, be- 
came a law, by the approval of Mr. Lincoln. As has been 
shown, it had its origin in the desire expressed by far-seeing 
statesmen, to confer the actual control of military operations 
solely upon General Grant ; and it received its warmest sup- 
port from those who believed that nothing less than this 
measure would enable the Government to make successful 
head against the insurgent Southerners. Grant had so far 
been the most successful General, and it was believed that his 
elevation to a grade above all the rest, would give him a 
power for good, which he could not otherwise exert. In 
order to make sure that neither Halleck nor any one else 
should be called by the President to fill the new office, it was 
moved in Congress that it should be expressly conferred upon 
Grant ; but that body was so confident that no one else would 
be selected, that it declined to accept an amendment to the act, 
in any way limiting the President's power of nomination, 
though a resolution requesting INIr. Lincoln to appoint Grant, 
was promptly passed. This confidence was not misplaced, 
for, on the next day, Mr. Lincoln sent to the Senate the nom- 



164 LIFE OF ULYSSES S, GRANT. 

ination of Uljsses S. Grant, to be Lieutenant-General. The 
nomination was confirmed at once, and an order was sent di- 
recting Grant to repair to Washington for the purpose of 
receiving his commission. Before leaving Nashville he wrote 
to Sherman, his faithful Lieutenant : 

" "WTiilst I have been eminently successful in this war, in at least 
gaining the confidence of the public, no one feels more than I do how 
much of this success is due to the energy, skill, and the harmonious 
i:iutting forth of that energy and skill, of those whom it has been my 
good fortune to have occupying subordinate positions under me. There 
are many officers to whom these remarks are applicable to a greater or 
less degree, proportionate to their ability as soldiers ; but what I want, 
is to express my thanks to you and McPherson as the men to whom, 
above all others, I feel indebted for whatever I have had of success. 
How far your advice and assistance have been of help to me, you know ; 
how far your execution of whatever has been given you to do entitles 
you to the reward I am receiving, you can not know as well as I. I 
feel all the gratitude this letter would express, giving it the most 
flattering construction." * 

This letter was intended as much for McPherson as for 
Sherman, and while it reflects the highest credit upon the 
magnanimous heart of the writer, it does those able and gal- 
lant Generals no more than simple justice. Grant had that 
about him which drew true men irresistibly towards him, 
causing them to cheerfully exert their entire strength in the 
performance of the duties assigned them. No man was ever 
more devotedly or worthily served by those who came within 
his immediate influence, and no man ever rewarded merit 
more unselfishly or promptly. 

Sherman, in replying to Grant's letter, says : 

" You do yourself injustice, and us too much honor, in assigning to 
us too large a share of the merits which have led to your high advance- 
ment. I know you approve the friendship I have ever professed to you, 
and will permit me to continue as heretofore, to manifest it on all 
proper occasions. 

" You are now Washington's legitimate successor, and occupy a posi- 
tion of almost dangerous elevation ; but if you can continue as heretofore, 
to be yourself, simple, honest and unpretending, you wiU enjoy through 

* " Sherman and his Campaigns, p. 166." 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 165 

life the respect and love of friends and the homage of millions of human 
beings, that will award you a large share in securing to them and their 
descendants a government of law and stability. 

" I repeat, you do McPherson and myself too much honor. At Bel- 
mont you manifested your traits, — neither of us being near. At Don- 
elsou, also, you illustrated your whole character. I was not near, and 
McPherson in too subordinate a capacity to influence you. 

" Until you had won Donelson, I confess I was almost cowed by the 
terrible array of anarchical elements that presented themselves at 
every point ; but that admitted a ray of light, which I have followed 
since. 

" I believe you are as brave, patriotic and just as the great prototype, 
Washington ; as unselfish, kind-hearted and honest as a man should be ; 
but the chief characteristic is the simpje faith in success you have al- 
ways manifested, which I can liken to nothing else than the faith the 
Christian has in the Saviour. 

'' This faith gave you victory at Shiloh and Vicksburg. Also, when 
you have completed your best preparations, you go into battle without 
hesitation, as at ChatUnooga, — no doubts, no answers, — and I tell you, 
it was this that made us act with confidence. I knew wherever I was, 
that you thought of me ; and if I got in a tight place you would help 
me out if alive. 

" My only point of doubt was in your knowledge of grand strategy, 
and of books of science and history ; but I co-nfess your common sense 
seems to have supplied all these. 

" Now as to the future. Don't stay in Washington. Come West ; take 
to yourself the whole Mississippi Valley. Let us make it dead sure ; and 
I tell you the Atlantic slopes and Pacific shores will follow its destiny 
as sure as the limbs of a tree live or die with the main trunk. We have 
done much, but still much remains. Time and time's influences are with 
us. We could almost afford to sit still and let these influences work. 
Here lies the seat of coming empire ; and from the West, where our 
task is done, we will make short work of Charleston and Richmond, 
and the impoverished coast of the Atlantic." * 

But Grant had gone to Washington, and for reasons -which 
will be explained hereafter, he wisely chose to cast his future 
fortunes with those of the national cause in the East. 

On the 8th of March he arrived at the capital, and the 
next day, at one o'clock, he was received by the President in 
the Cabinet Chamber. The different Cabinet officers, Gen- 
eral Halleck, and a few other persons were there by the 

* " Sherman and his Campaigns." 



166 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

President's invitation. General Grant was accompanied by 
an aid-de-camp, Colonel Comstock, and General Rawlins, his 
able and devoted Chlef-of-StafF, and after being introduced to 
the Cabinet was addressed as follows, by the President : 

" General Grant : — The expression of the nation's approbation of 
■what you have already done, and its reliance on you for -what remains 
to be done in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this 
commission, constituting you Lieutenant-General in the Army of the 
United States. With this high honor, devolves on you an additional 
responsibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it wiU 
sustain you. I scarcely need to add, that with what I here speak for 
the nation, goes my own hearty personal concurrence." 

General Grant replied with feeling : 

" Mr. President : — I accept the commission with gratitude for the 
high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have 
fought on so many battle-fields for our common country, it will be my 
earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full 
weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me ; and I know that 
if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the 
favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men." 

The next day, as had been expected, the President assigned 
the new Lieutenant-General to the command of all the armies, 
with his head-quarters in the field. Grant made a hurried 
trip to the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper Court House, 
to confer with General Meade, and then returned to Nashville 
for the purpose of making arrangements to enter upon the 
performance of the duties of his new position. Here, on the 
17th day of March, he Issued his order assuming command 
of the armies of the United States, and announced that till 
further notice his head-quarters would be with the Army of 
the Potomac. At his request the Secretary of War had al- 
ready assigned Sherman to the Military Division of the Mis- 
sissippi, Including the Department of Arkansas in addition to 
those departments already wuthin it ; McPherson succeeded 
Sherman in the command of the Department of the Tonnes- 
see ; and, as a matter of course, Halleck, who had so long 
filled the place of General-in-Chief, was relieved from that 
position. He was, however, soon afterwards assigned to duty 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRA.NT. 167 

in Washington by General Grant as Chief-of-StafF of the 
Army, for which position, charged with the details of mili- 
tary administration, it was thought, his capacities peculiarly 
fitted him. 

On the 23d of March, Grant, accompanied by his family 
and the members of his personal staff, arrived at Washington, 
and on the next day he took actual command, — his first act 
being to reorganize the Army of the Potomac by consoli- 
dating it into three corps, — to be known thereafter as the 
Second, Fifth, and Sixth, to be commanded respectively 
by Major-Generals Hancock, Warren, and Sedgwick. The 
Ninth corps, under Burnside, lately from East Tennessee, 
had been reorganized at Annapolis, and was added to the 
Army of the Potomac, but acted for a time independently 
of Meade, on account of Burnside's older commission. Gen- 
erals Barlow, Gibbon, Birney, J. B. Carr, Wadsworth, Craw- 
ford, Robinson, Griffin, Wright, and Prince, commanded di- 
visions. The cavalry of the army was consolidated into a 
corps under General Sheridan, with Generals Gregg, Tor- 
bert, and Wilson, commanding divisions. These officers had 
all distinguished themselves in the war and were selected for 
their services and their zeal in the national cause. 

The staff organization of the Army of the Potomac re- 
mained unchanged with Brigadier-General H. J. Hunt, as 
Chief of Artillery; Major J. C. Duane, Chief of Engineers; 
Brigadier-General Rufus Ingalls, Chief Quartermaster. Ma- 
jor-General A. A. Humphreys, an able officer of Engineers, 
distinguished also as a division commander, was Chief-of- 
Staflf ; while Brigadier-General Seth Williams was Adjutant- 
General. 

The law creating the grade of Lieutenant-General,- enabled 
Grant to reorganize his own staff also. General Rawlins, 
his constant companion from the beginning of the war, was 
retained as Chief-of-StafF, and Colonel T. S. Bowers as Ad- 
jutant-General; Colonel Wilson, his Inspector-General, who 
had been promoted to be Brigadier- General after Chattanooga, 
and had been ordered to Washington for the purpose of re- 



108 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

organizing the Cavalry Bureau, was assigned to the commui;d 
of a division under Sheridan. His place on the staff was 
filled by Colonel Comstock of the Engineer corps; Colunel 
Horace Porter and Colonel O. E. Babcock, two young officers 
of the regular army, who had already given great promise of 
usefulness and ability, were designated as Aids-de-Camp ; 
while Colonels Adam Badeau, and Ely S. Parker (a hereditary 
chief of the Six Nations), were assigned as Military Secre- 
taires. These officers wex-e all young in years, but old in ex- 
perience, having served with marked distinction from the be- 
ginning of the rebellion. Grant had always had great faith 
in young men for war, and therefore carefully avoided the se- 
lection of old or middle aged officers for service near him. 

The conduct of Grant in assuming command of the Army 
of the Potomac against the advice of such friends as Sherman, 
had a deeper and more chivalric significance than is apparent 
at the first glance ; for while it was " of itself a recognition of 
that primacy of interest and importance which belonged to that 
army, but which appeared for awhile to have passed from it 
to its more fortunate rival in the western theatre of opera- 
tions," * he saw with the intuitive and unerring perception 
of a heroic and loyal nature, that his acceptance of the Lieu- 
tenant-Generalship carried with it the inevitable duty of 
undertaking to " overwhelm the foremost army of the Con- 
federacy under the Confederacy's foremost leader." He must 
have felt that Congress had bestowed upon him the high rank 
of Lieutenant-General, and clothed him with its ample powers, 
the better to prepare him for a trial of prowess with Lee and 
the army under his command. Lee's soldiers had defeated 
McClellan, Hooker and Burnside. They had baffled every 
effort on the part of Meade, and so long as they remained 
to bar the road to Richmond and to uphold the rebel cause, 
so long would rebellion continue and the country remain di- 
vided against itself. Grant saw this as plainly as any man 
could see it, and knew that he could no more decline the trial 
with Lee, without injuring his fame and weakening his power 
* " Qampaigns of the Army of tlic Potomac," p. 405. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 169 

to command, than the country could afford to allow its life- 
blood and treasure to be fruitlessly wasted at the hands of in- 
competent and irresolute Generals. He realized too truly the 
significance of his new rank, and the task imposed upon him 
by his countrymen, to permit himself to be turned from this 
duty either by the difficulties and dangers attending it, or the 
solicitations of devoted but misjudging' friends. 



CHAPTER XX. 

EXTRACTS FROM GENERAL GRANT'S OFFICIAL REPORT — THE EASTERN- 
THEATER OF OPERATIONS — REFLECTIONS — FAILURES OF FORMER 
COMMANDERS — DISCUSSION AND COMPARISON OF THE SEVERAL 
PLANS OF CAMPAIGN — BUTLEr's AND SIGEL's POSITIONS — UNJUST 
CRITICISM — THE M'CLELLAN FACTION — THE CHAMPIONS OF THE 
CAUSE. 

No clearer statement of the situation of military affairs, or 
of the plan of operations adopted for the future conduct of 
the war, can be made, than that given in General Grant's 
own words : 

" From an early period in the rebellion," he says in his comprehen- 
sive and admirable report,* " I had been impressed with the idea that 
active and continuous operations of all the troops that could be brought 
into the field, regardless of season and weather, were necessary to a 
speedy termination of the war. The resources of the enemy, and his 
numerical strength, were far inferior to ours; but, as an offset to this, 
we had a vast territory, with a population hostile to the Government, 
to garrison, and long lines of river and railroad communications to pro- 
tect, to enable us to supply the operating armies. 

" The armies in the East and West acted independently, and without 
concert, like a balky team, — no two ever pulling together, — enabling 
the enemy to use to great advantage his interior lines of communication 
for transporting troops from East to West, re-enforcing the army most 
vigorously pressed, and to furlough large numbers, during seasons of 
inactivity on our part, to go to their homes and do the work of pro- 
viding for the support of their armies. It was a question whether our 
numerical strength and resources were not more than balanced by these 
disadvantages and the enemy's superior position. 

" From the first, I was firm in the conviction that no peace could be 

♦Report of Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, of the Armies of the United 
States, dated Head-quarters Armies of the United States, Washington, D. C, 
July 22, 1865. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 171 

had that would be stable and conducive to the happiness of the people, 
both North and South, until the military power of the rebellion was 
entirely broken. ^ 

" I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest number of troops 
practicable against the armed force of the enemy, preventing him from 
using the same force at difierent seasons against first one and then 
another of our armies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and 
producing necessary supplies for carrying on resistance ; second, to 
hammer continuously against the armed force of the enemy and his 
resources, until, by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be 
nothing left to him but an equal submission with the loyal sections of 
our common country to the Constitution and Laws of the land. 

" These views have been kept constantly in mind, and orders given 
and campaigns made to carry them out. Whether they might have 
been better in conception and execution is for the people, who mourn 
the loss of friends fallen, and who' have to pay the pecuniary cost, to 
say. All I can say is, that what I have done has been done conscien- 
tiously, to the best of my ability, and in what I conceived to be for the 
best interests of the whole country. 

" At the date when this report begins, the situation of the contend- 
ing forces was about as follows : The Mississippi River was strongly 
garrisoned by Federal troops from St. Louis, Mo., to its mouth. 
The line of the Arkansas was also held, thus giving us armed posses- 
sion of all west of the Mississippi north of that stream. A few points 
in Southern Louisiana, not remote from the river, were held by us, to- 
gether with a small garrison at and near the mouth of the Rio Grande. 
All the balance of the vast territory of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, 
was in the almost undisputed possession of the enemy, with an army 
of probably not less than 80,000 effective men that could have been 
brought into the field, had there been sufficient opposition to have 
brought them out. The let-alone-policy had demoralized this force so 
that probably but little more than one-half of it was ever present in gar- 
rison at any one time. But the one-half, or 40,000 men, with the bands 
of guerrillas scattered through Missouri, Arkansas, and along the Mis- 
sissippi River, and the disloyal character of much of the population, 
compelled the use of a large number of troops to keep navigation -open 
on the river, and to protect the loyal people to the west of it. To the 
east of the ^Mississippi we held substantially with the line of the Ten- 
nessee and Holston Rivers, running eastv ard to include nearly all of 
the State of Tennessee. South of Chattanooga a small foothold had 
been obtained in (Jeorgia, sufficient to protect East Tennessee from in- 
cursions from the enemy's force at Dalton, Georgia. West Virginia 
was substantially within our lines. Virginia, with the exception of the 
northern border, the Potomac River, a small area about the mouth of 



172 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

James River covered by the troops at Norfolk and Fort Monroe, and 
the territory covered by the Army of the Potomac lying along the 
Rapidan, was in the possession of the enemy. Along the sea-coast, 
footholds had been obtained at Plymouth, Washington, and Newbern, 
in North Carolina ; Beaufort, Folly, and Morris Islands, Hilton Head, 
Fort Pulaski, and Port Royal, in South Carolina ; Fernandina and St. 
Augustine, in Florida. Key West and Pensacola were also in our pos- 
session, while all the important ports were blockaded by the navy. 
The accompanying map, a copy of which was sent to General Sherman 
and other commanders in March, 18(34:, shows by red lines the territory 
occupied by us at the beginning of the rebellion, and at the opening of 
the campaign of lS6i, while those in blue are the lines which it was 
proposed to occupy. 

" Behind the Union lines there were many bands of guerrillas, and a 
large population disloyal to the Government, making it necessary to 
guard every foot of road or river used in supplying our armies. In the 
South, a reign of military despotism prevailed, which made every man 
and boy capable of bearing arms a soldier, and those who could not 
bear arms in the field acted as provosts for collecting deserters and 
returning them. This enabled the enemy to bring almost his entire 
strength into the field. 

" The enemy had concentrated the bulk of his forces east of the Mis- 
sissippi into two armies, commanded by Generals R. E. Lee and J. E. 
Johnston, his ablest and best Generals. The army commanded by Lee 
occupied the south bank of the Rapidan, extending from Mine Run 
westward, strongly intrenched in position at Dalton, Ga., covering 
and defending Atlanta, Ga., a place of great importance as a railroad 
center, against the armies under Major-General W. T. Sherman. In 
addition to these armies, he had a large cavalry force under Forrest, 
in North-east Mississippi; a considerable force, of all arms, in the 
Shenajidoah Valley, and in the western part of Virginia and extreme 
eastern part of Tennessee ; and also confronting our sea-coast garrisons, 
and holding blockaded ports where we had no foothold upon land. 

" These two armies, and the cities covered and defended by them, 
were the main objective points of the campaign. 

" Major-General W. T. Sherman, who was appointed to the command 
of the Military Division of the INIississippi, embracing all the armies 
and territory east of the oMississippi River to the AUeghanies, and the 
Department of Arkansas, west of the Mississippi, had the immediate 
command of the armies operating against Johnston. 

" Major-General George G. Meade had the immediate command of 
the Army of the Potomac, from where I exercised general supervision 
of the movements of all our armies. 

" General Sherman was instructed to move against Johnston's army, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 173 

to break it up, and to go into the interior of the enemy's country as 
far as he could, inflicting all the damage he could upon their war re- 
sources. If the enemy in his front showed signs of joining Lee, to fol- 
low him up to the full extent of his ability, while I would prevent the 
concentration of Lee upon him if it was in the power of the Army of 
the Potomac to do so. More specific written instructions were not 
given, for the reason that I had talked over with him the plans of the 
campaign, and was satisfied that he understood them and would ex- 
ecute them to the fullest extent possible. 

"Major-General N. P. Banks, then on an expedition up Red River 
against Shreveport, Louisiana, fwhich had been organized previous to 
my appointment to command), was notified by me, on the 15th of March, 
of the importance it was that Shreveport shovild be taken at the earli- 
est possible day, and that if he found that the taking of it would occupy 
from ten to fifteen days' more time than General Sherman had given 
his troops to be absent from their command, he would send them back 
at the time specified by General Sherman, even if it led to the abandon- 
ment of the main object of the Red River expedition, for this force was 
necessary to movements east of the Mississippi ; that should his expe- 
dition prove successful, he would hold Shreveport and the Red River 
with such force as he might deem necessary, and return the balance of 
his troops to the neighborhood of New Orleans, commencing no move 
for the further acquisition of territory unless it was to make that then 
held by him more easily held; that it might be a part of the spring 
campaign to move against Mobile ; that it certainly would be if troops 
enough could be obtained to make it without embarrassing other move- 
ments ; that New Orleans would be the point of departure for such an 
expedition ; also, that I had directed General Steele to make a real 
move from Arkansas, as suggested by him (General Banks), instead of 
a demonstration, as Steele thought advisable. 

" On the 21st of March, in addition to the foregoing notification and 
directions, he was instructed as follows : 

'"1. If successful in your expedition against Shreveport, that you turn 
over the defense of the Eed River to General Steele and the navy. 

" ' 2. That you abandon Texas entirely, with the exception of your hold 
upon the Rio Grande. This can be held with 4,000 men, if they will turn 
their attention immediately to fortifying their positions. At least one-half of 
the force required for this service might be taken from the colored troops. ■ 

" ' 3. By properly fortifying on the Mississippi River, the force to guard it 
from Port Hudson to New Orleans can be reduced to 10,000 men, if not to 
a less number ; 6,000 more would then hold all the rest of the territory 
necessary to hold until active operations can be resumed west of the river. 
According to your last return, this would give you a force of over 30,000 
effective men with which to move against Mobile. To this I expect to add 



174 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

5,000 men from Missouri. If, however, j-ou think the force here stated too 
small to hold the territory regarded as necessary to hold possession of, I would 
say, concentrate at least 25,000 men of your present command for operations 
against Mobile. With these, and such additions as I can give you from else- 
where, lose no time in making a demonstration, to be followed by an attack 
upon Mobile. Two or more iron-clads will be ordered to report to Admiral 
Farragut. This gives him a strong naval fleet with which to co-operate. 
You can make your own arrangements with the Admiral for his co-operation, 
and select your own hne of approach. My own idea of the matter is, that 
Pascagoula should be your base ; but, from your long service in the Gulf 
Department, you will know best about the matter. It is intended that your 
movements shall be co-operative with movements elsewhere, and you can not 
now start too soon. All I would now add is, that you commence the concen- 
tration of your forces at once. Preserve a profound secrecy of what you in- 
tend doing, and start at the earliest possible moment.' 

" Major-General Meade was instructed that Lee's army would be his 
objective point ; that wherever Lee went he would go also. For his 
movement two plans presented themselves: — one to cross the Rapidan 
below Lee, moving by his right flank ; the other above, moving by his 
left. Each presented advantages over the other, with corresponding 
objections. By crossing above, Lee would be cut off from all chance 
of ignoring Richmond or going North on a raid. But if we took this 
route, all we did would have to be done whilst the rations we started 
with held out; besides it separated us from Butler, so that he could not 
be directed how to co-operate. If we took the other route, Brandy 
Station could be used as a base of supplies until another was secured 
on the York or James Rivers. Of these, however, it was decided to 
take the lower route. 

" The following letter of instructions was addressed to Major-Gen- 
eral B. F. Butler : 

" ' Fort Monroe, Va., April 2, 1864. 

" * General — In the spring campaign, which it is desirable shall commence 
at as early a day as practicable, it is proposed to have co-operative action of 
all the armies in the field, as far as this object can be accomplished. 

" ' It will not be possible to unite our armies into two or three large ones, 
to act as so many units, owing to the absolute necessity of holding on to the 
territory already taken from the enemy. But, generally speaking, concentra- 
tion can be practically effected by armies moving to the interior of the enemy's 
country from the territory they have to guard. By such movement they 
interpose themselves between the enemy and the country to be guarded, 
thereby reducing tlie number necessary to guard important points, or at least 
occupy the attention of a part of the enemy's force, if no greater object is 
gained. Lee's army and Richmond being the greater objects towards which 
our attention must be directed in the next campaign, it is desirable to unite 
all the force we can against them. The necessity of covering Washington 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRA^■T. 175 

with the Army of the Potomac, and of covering your Department with your 
army, makes it impossible to unite these forces at the beginning of any move. 
I propose, therefore, what comes nearest this of any thing that seems practi- 
cable : The Army of the Potomac will act from its present base, Lee's army 
being the objective point. You will collect all the forces from your command 
that can be spared from garrison duty,— I should say not less than 20,000 
effective men,— to operate on the south side of James River, Richmond being 
your objective point. To the force you already have will be added about 
10,000 men from South Carolina, under Major-General Gilmore, who will 
command them in person. Major-General W. F. Smith is ordered to report 
to you, to command the troops sent into the field from your own Department 

" ' General Gilmore will be ordered to report to you at Fortress Monroe, 
with all the troops on transports, by the 18th instant, or as soon thereafter as 
practicable. Should you not receive notice by that time to move, you will 
make such disposition of them and your other forces as you may deem best 
calculated to deceive the enemy as to the real move to be made. 

" ' When you are notified to move, take City Point with as much force as 
possible. Fortify, or rather intrench at once, and concentrate aU your troops 
for the field there as rapidly as you can. From City Point, directions can not 
be given at this time for your further movements. 

" ' The fact that has already been stated, — that is, that Richmond is to be 
your objective point, and that there is to be co-operation between your force 
and the Army of the Potomac, — must be your guide. This indicates the neces- 
sity of your holding close to the south bank of the James River as you advance. 
Then, should the enemy be forced into his intrenchments in Richmond, the 
Army of the Potomac would follow, and, by means of transports the two 
armies would be a unit. 

" ' All the minor details of your advance are left entirely to your direction. 
If, however, you think it practicable to use your cavalry south of you, so as 
to cut the railroad about Hick's Ford about the time of the general advance, 
it would be of immense advantage. 

" ' You will please forward, for my information, at the earliest practicable 
day, all orders, details, and instructions you may give for the execution of 
this order.' 

"On the 16th, these instructions were substantially reiterated. On 
the 19th, in order to secure full co-operation between his army and that 
of General Meade, he was informed that I expected him to move from 
Fort Monroe the same day that General Meade moved from Culpepper. 
The exact time I was to telegraph him as soon as it was fixed, and that 
it would not be earlier than the 27th of April ; that it was my inten- 
tion to fight Lee between Culpepper and Richmond if he would stand. 
Should he, however, fall back into Richmond, I would follow up, and 
make a junction with his (General Butler's) army on the James River; 
that, could I be certain he would be able to invest Richmond on the 
south side so as to have his left resting on the James, above the city, I 
would form a junction there ; that circumstances might make this course 



176 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

advisable anyhow; that he should use every exertion to secure footing 
as far up the south side of the river as he could, and as soon as possi- 
ble, after the receipt of orders, to move ; that if he could not carry the 
city, he should at least detain as large a force as possible. 

" In co-operation with the main movements against Lee and Johnston, 
1 was desirous of using all other troops necessarily kept in departments 
remote from the fields of immediate operations, and also those kept in 
the background for the protection of our extended lines between the 
loyal States and the armies operating against them. 

"A very considerable force, under command of Major-Generel Sigel, 
was so held for the protection of West Virginia, and the frontiers of 
Maryland and Pennsylvania. Whilst these troops could not be with- 
drawn to distant fields without exposing the North to invasion by com- 
paratively small bodies of the enemy, they could act directly to their 
front and give better protection than if lying idle in garrison. By such 
movement they would either compel the enemy to detach largely for 
the protection of his supplies and lines of communication, or he would 
lose them. 

" General Sigel was therefore directed to organize all his available 
force into two expeditions, to move from Beverly and Charleston, un- 
der command of Generals Ord and Crook, against the East Tennessee 
and Virginia railroad. Subsequently, General Ord having been relieved 
at his own request, General Sigel was instructed, at his own suggestion, 
to give up the expedition by Beverly, and to form two columns, one 
under General Crook, on the Kanawha, numbering about 10,000 
men, and one on the Shenandoah, numbering about 7,000 men, the 
one on the Shenandoah to assemble between Cumberland and the 
Shenandoah, and the infantry and artillery advanced to Cedar Creek, 
with such cavalry as could be made available at the moment, to threaten 
the enemy in the Shenandoah Valley, and advance as far as possible ; 
while General Crook would take possession of Lewisburg with part of 
his force and move down the Tennessee railroad, doing as much damage 
as he could, destroying the New River bridge and the salt-works at 
Saltville, Virginia. 

" Owing to the weather and bad condition of the roads, operations 
were delayed until the 1st of May, wlien, everything being in readiness 
and the roads favorable, orders were given for a general movement of 
all the armies not later than the 4th of May. 

" My first object being to break the military power of the rebellion, 
and capture the enemy's important strongholds, made me desirous that 
General Butler should succeed in his movement against Eichmond, as 
that would tend more than anything else, unless it were the capture of 
Lee's army, to accomplish this desired result in the East. If he failed, 
it was my determination, by hard fighting, either to compel Lee to re- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 177 

treat, or to so cripple him that he could not detach a large force to go 
North, and still retain enough for the defense of Richmond. It was 
well understood, by both Generals Butler and Meade, before starting 
on the campaign, that it was my intention to put both their armies 
south of the James River ; in case of failure to destroy Lee with- 
out it. 

" Before giving General Butler his instructions, I visited him at Fort 
Monroe, and, in conversation, pointed out the apparent importance of 
getting possession of Petersburg, and destroying railroad communica- 
tion as far south as possible. Believing, however, in the practicability 
of capturing Richmond, unless it was re-enforced, I made that the ob- 
jective point of his operations. As the Army of the Potomac was to 
move simultaneously with him, Lee could not detach from his army 
with safety, and the enemy did not have troops elsewhere to bring to 
the defense of the city in time to meet a rapid movement from the 
north of James River. 

" I may here state that, commanding all the armies as I did, I tried, 
as far as possible, to leave General Meade in independent command of 
the Army of the Potomac. My instructions for that army were all 
through him, and were general in their nature, leaving all the details 
and the execution to him." 

The particular plan of operations for the Army of the 
Potomac has been severely criticised by various writers upon 
the war; apparently with the object of detracting from 
Grant's reputation as a General,* but in their eao-erness to 
exhibit superior knowledge of strategy, they lose slo-ht, in 
the outset, of the first principle applicable to the problem 
which presented Itself for solution at that stage of the war. 
It is a matter of some importance, for the sake of history, 
that this question should be carefully examined. It will be 
remembered that Grant's primary object was not the capture 
of Richmond, nor the conquest of hostile territory, as has 
been falsely assumed, but the absolute destruction of the in- 
surgent armies. From the first he was " firm in the convic- 
tion that no peace could be had that would be stable and 
conducive to the happiness of the people, both North and 
South, until the military power of the rebellion was entirely 
broken." How he expected to break this military power is 

* See particularly " Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac," by WlUiaift 
Swinton. 

12 



178 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Stated with clearness, and is based upon the soundest military 
principles : 

" I therefore determined, first to use the greatest number of troops 
practicable against the armed force of the enemy, preventing him from 
using the same force at different seasons against first one and then 
another of our armies ; " aud, " second, to hammer continuously against 
the armed force of the enemy and his resources, until by mere attrition 
if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal 
submission with the loyal section of our common country, to the Con- 
stitution and the laws of the land." 

It will be observed that lie says nothing here in reference 
to strategic points ; converging or diverging lines of opera- 
tions, but has steadily kept in view only the armed forces of 
the enemy. But as if to leave no room for doubt on this 
point, he instructed Meade that Lee's army, the very iiead 
and front of the rebel cause, " would be his objective point ; 
that wherever Lee went, he would go also." In the entire 
range of all that has ever been said, either by the writers or 
the fighters, there can not be found a more comprehensive 
plan of a great war, nor a more judicious statement of the 
principles upon which it should be conducted. If it be true, 
as has been stated, that the General who conceived and car- 
ried this plan into execution, although educated as a soldier, 
never read a treatise on grand tactics or strategy, and, like 
Bagration, knew nothing of those sciences, except what he 
learned from his OAvn experience and reflection, his country- 
men may justly ascribe to him the possession of military genius 
of the highest order. 

The position of Lee's army was as well known as that of 
the Army of the Potomac, when Grant moved his head-quar- 
ters to Culpepper Court House ; but even if there had been 
a reasonable doubt on this point, past experience had shown 
that the national forces would not be permitted to go far in 
the right direction without obtaining the desired information. 
This fact alone, ought to have settled, as it did, all questions 
in reference to the line of operations to be pursued in the 
coming campaign ; and yet it Is claimed that Grant should 
have withdrawn from Lee's front, marched to Washington or 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 179 

Acquia Creek, transported his army to the James, and there 
begun his campaign, by moving directly upon Eichraond or 
its communications. It is asserted, in support of this plan, 
that Grant himself, before being called to the command of all 
the armies, wrote a letter to Halleck recommending a plan 
similar to that devised by Generals Franklin and Smith. 
But without entering into the details of these plans, or the 
circumstances under which they were submitted, it is enough 
for present purposes to assert that the country has good rea- 
son to be thankful that Grant, when he became charged 
with the actual responsibility of making and executing a plan 
for the Army of the Potomac, saw sufficient reason, after care- 
ful investigation and study, to change his views, and adopt a 
plan more strictly in accordance with the principles of war. 
The Army of the Potomac had already tried the Peninsula 
route to its sore cost. The long array of unfortunate events, 
beginning with the seven days' battle, including the closing 
events of Pope's well-managed but disastrous campaign ; the 
indecisive battle of Antietam ; the bloody disaster of Fred- 
ericksburg ; the inglorious failure of Chancellorsville, scarcely 
counterbalanced by the expulsion of Lee from Pennsylvania 
by the uncompleted victory of Gettysburg, the Mine Run cam- 
paign, followed by the rapid retreat on Washington, had their 
beginning in the attempt to take Richmond by advancing 
upon it by the way of the Peninsula. And although it may 
be true that misfortune, privation, and misery are the school 
of good soldiers, it can scarcely be claimed that two years of 
such schooling, unvaried by a single decisive victory, had im- 
proved the morale of the army. Its ranks had been decima- 
ted by battle and disease, its hope wasted by continual delay, 
and although discipline had not yet been subverted, and that 
soul of armies, the spirit of a great people, still animated its 
ranks, it was not then the splendid organization it once had 
been, or that it would have been had victory rested perma- 
nently upon its banners. 

By an examination of the map it will be seen that the 
eastern theater of operations is mainly a narrow strip of 



180 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

country from thirty to sixty miles ■wide, and one hundred and 
twenty in length, lying between the Blue Ridge, on the west, 
and the coast of Chesapeake Bay on the east, limited on the 
north by the Potomac, and intersected at intervals rarely 
greater than ten miles by rivers of various sizes, but none of 
them impassable by the various means usually commanded 
by armies. The uniform failure which had attended the cam- 
paigns of Pope, Hooker, Burnside and Meade, through this 
region was not due so much to the difficulty of passing the 
rivers or overcoming the natural obstacles, as to faulty com- 
binations and indecisive generalship. Had either of these 
Generals been permitted to unite the forces available for ac- 
tive operations, and moved them with energy and decision 
upon the enemy's hnes, the result must have been in his favor, 
notwithstanding the natural and artificial difficulties encoun- 
tered, or the length of the lines which he would have been 
compelled to maintain. The student of military history will 
find Grant's overland campaign a model in this respect. The 
difficulties surmounted in passing the various rivers and 
creeks, and in overcoming all the other obstacles, except the 
"Wilderness, peculiar to this line, were not unusually destruc- 
tive of life ; and no army was ever more abundantly or more 
promptly provided with suppHes of all kinds necessary to 
its efficiency. The passage of the Eapidan, Xorth Anna, 
Pamunky, Chickahominy and James Eivers, was effected 
with the loss of scarcely a single man. Lee made no defense 
of those streams ; but this was to have been anticipated ; for 
had he tried to hold any one of them, he must have been com- 
pelled to disseminate his troops in such a manner, to watch 
the various points available for crossing, that Grant could 
easily have caught him at such disadvantage as to render 
victory certain. 

It was only by holding his army well in hand, compact and 
alert, that Lee was enabled to jilant himself with such address 
across Grant's line of march, in time to prepare those en- 
trenched positions which covered him almost as eflfcctively as 
the regular entrenchments of Eichmond could have done. It 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 181 

was this and not the physical features of the theatre of oper- 
ations which gave the overland campaign its destructive 
peculiarities, — making it " a kind of running siege " instead 
of a campaign subject to the ordinary rules of warfare. This 
peculiarity characterized all the later campaigns in the war, 
and would have been just as certainly encountered had the 
final campaign been made from Fortress Monroe instead of 
from the Rapidan. In fact, the Peninsula I'oute presents all 
the difficulties which were encountered in the overland cam- 
paign, besides others still more formidable. The distance 
from Fortress Monroe to Richmond, by the way of Williams- 
burg, is about eighty-five miles, and as the Peninsula is only 
from five to ten miles in width, occasionally narrowing, as at 
Yorktown and Williamsburg, to a defile not over two miles 
wide, it is evident that, by the system of rapid fortification 
which can be adapted with at least as much advantage to a 
level country as to a broken one, Lee could have made as 
stubborn a defense on that line as on any other. Indeed,' the 
battle of Cold Plarbor, the bloodiest of the entire campaign, 
was fought on the Peninsula, at the point where the overland 
route intersects it. To be sure, Lee's position at any place 
on the Peninsula might have been turned by a double passage 
of either the James or the York River, but such a maneuver 
would have been attended by a great deal more danger to the 
invading army than any ordinary turning movement in the 
open country. If undertaken, it would have presented to Lee 
even a better opportunity than that of which he availed him- 
self to deal McCIellan the staggering blow at Gaines' Mill. 
A route south of the James would have been, if anything, 
still more disadvantageous. The experience of . McCIellan, 
who was delayed by an insignificant * force of rebels at York- 
town nearly a month, and finally defeated by being caught 

*"It is almost incredible, but it was nevertheless true, that an army of 
58,000 men and 100 guns had been repulsed by 5000 men, and forced to resort 
to the tedious delay of a siege. Had General McCIellan massed his troops, 
and made a bold and determined dash at any part of the Southern line on 
the 5th, 6th or 7th of April, he could have broken through it." — ''Life of R. 
E. Lee," p. 83. 



182 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

with his army astride of the Chickahominj, may be justly 
regarded as a warning not to be neglected by a General of 
ordinary capacity. Most people of sound judgment when 
they consider these arguments, will not only hold Grant 
blameless, but will regard him as having shown the highest 
qualities of a General in preferring the direct route to Lee's 
position, where he could always detend Washington, and have 
ample room for maneuvering either to the right or the left. 

The case does not require further discussion; but let it be 
supposed that Grant had decided differently, and after leav- 
ing 30,000 or 40,000 good troops to cover Washington, had 
transferred the bulk of his army by water to Bermuda Hun- 
dred or West Point. What would have been the probable 
course of events? It is not likely at that stage of the war 
that Lee could have been kept ignorant of such a movement 
longer than a few hours, and still less likely that he would 
have remained quiescent during the month or six weeks which, 
at the lowest calculation, must have intervened before the 
army could have been assembled at either place. When 
McClellan determined to transfer the Army of the Potomac 
to the lower Chesapeake, he gave the order for collecting the 
transports on the 17th of February and began his movement 
from Washington on the 17th of March, and his advance 
reached the vicinity of Yorktown on the 5th of April, fifty- 
one days from the date of the first order, and twenty from 
the actual commencement of the transfer. It is not to be 
supposed that Grant, confronting the enemy on the Papidan, 
could have either withdrawn so readily, or made the move- 
ment in so short a time, even if he had decided to do so silly 
a thing as to move his army by land and water three hundred 
miles for the purpose of finding an enemy whom he could 
reach any time in a half day's march. Had he really put 
this absurd proposition into practice, how many chances would 
he have had thereby, more than on the Papidan, of finding 
and beating the enemy? It is not probable that a General of 
Lee's capacity would have thrown away the advantage of his 
interior lines of niihvay communication, and stood idly wait- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 183 

ing to see where the blow would fall. During the twenty 
days upon which he could have surely counted, his army could 
have marched four hundred miles, or from his position at 
Orange Court House to Washington, back to Richmond, then 
to Washington, and back to Orange Court House again. In 
all human probability he would have put into operation his 
long contemplated game of "swapping queens," and when 
Grant had left Washington with his army, would have over- 
whelmed the covering force of 30,000 or 40,000 men, and 
made a detachment to take possession of the National Capitol, 
while he moved with the bulk of his force upon Baltimore 
and Philadelphia ; or, better still, w^hile he marched to Rich- 
mond or Petersburg, or wherever else it might be necessary 
in order to meet the expeditionary force threatening him. In 
this aspect of the case, the dangers of which are by no means 
overstated. General Grant may well congratulate himself, as 
w^ell as the country, that he chose the overland route to find 
the enemy, rather than going by water to the Peninsula, or 
to the south side of the James. His fame as a strategist and 
far-seeing commander needs no better foundation. 

Grant has been also severely criticised for permitting But- 
ler to advance from Fortress Monroe, and Sigel from West 
Virginia, instead of uniting them with Meade before the cam- 
paign began ; but it must not be forgotten that Butler was 
united with Meade before the army reached Richmond, and 
that Sigel's advance from West Virginia was made with 
troops " which, under no circumstances, could be withdrawn 
to distant fields, without exposing the North to invasion." 
It was hoped, too, that the latter command, if it did not 
succeed in breaking up important railroad communications, 
would at least neutralize the large force which must neces- 
sarily be detached by Lee for their protection. Its success 
in the latter respect was sufficiently realized in the earlier 
stages of the campaign, as well as subsequently when, under 
Crook, it formed a part of Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah 
Valley. General Grant's plan, instead of being the concen- 
tric movement of three independent and equal armies, was 



184 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

really in the nature of an advance by one grand army, with 
two converging but important and indispensable detachments ; 
and even if success had not given it sufficient approval, the 
example of Napoleon the Great, master of modern warfare, 
on many similar occasions, relieves the General from any 
culpability which may be charged upon him by over-captious 
critics. 

It is much to be regretted that he could not have had, in 
some places, the assistance of men better able to comprehend 
and perform the duty allotted them ; for it is safe to say that 
whenever Grant's plans foiled, it was due more to faults in 
the details and execution than to defects in the plans them- 
selves. No fairer opportunity was ever lost than Butler had 
after landing at Bermuda Hundred. Had that General been 
adequate to the part assigned him, he would have marched 
instantly against the communications of Richmond, and the 
rebel troops from the Carolinas hastening to its defense. He 
would not have disobeyed his orders to fortify at City Point, 
but would have left that duty to a detachment, and, in em- 
ulation of Grant's example, the year before in the interior 
of Mississippi, would have seized Petersburg with the bulk 
of his troops, broken the railroads to the South and West, 
scattered the forces under Beauregard, and then essayed a 
movement against Richmond itself. Such a campaign as this 
must have resulted in the capture of the rfebel capitol, or at 
least in compelling Lee to send a strong detachment for its 
defense. To claim that Grant's orders did not contemplate 
such a campaign, is as unreasonable as to say that, when he 
landed at Brulnsburg, he had only Vicksburg in view, and did 
not contemplate making any movement wdiatever towards the 
interior, or giving battle at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, 
or Champion's Hill, or even the necessity of breaking up the 
railroad between Jackson and Vicksburg, before securing a 
base on the Yazoo, and beginning the final operations of the 
siege. 

It is a well established fact that throughout his career. 
Grant has studiously avoided giving detailed instructions to 



JLA-UUfera del. 



Hug d by 2'is/i ixliii,ssuU^£r 

o mfles 



THE WILDERNESS, RICHMOND, PETERSBURG. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 185 

his subordinates. His habits in this respect were very pecu- 
liar. His greatest care seems to have been directed to the 
selection of subordinates who would know how to make their 
own orders in emergencies. With Sherman, McPherson, and 
Sheridan, he always regarded it as sufficient to indicate what 
he wished to have done, leaving them to accomplish it in 
whatever way circumstances might seem to require. He had 
the sagacity to understand that, all other things being equal, 
even such Generals as these would work more energetically 
to carry out their own plans than 'his. This indicates no 
servility or poverty of mind on the part of the General, 
but shows the keenest insight into the mysteries of human 
nature, and accounts, in a great degree, for some of his best 
generalship. 

In regard to the control of events under his immediate 
supervision, the rule not to interfere with details appears to 
have been seldom departed from. He says : " Commanding 
all the armies as I did, I tried as far as possible to leave 
General Meade in independent command of the Army of the 
Potomac. 3Iy instructions for that army were general m 
their nature., leaving all the details and the execution to him.''''* 
In the face of this clear statement, Grant has been held re- 
sponsible for the blunder of every division, corps or army com- 
mander. No one at that period realized more clearly than the 
Lieutenant-General that he was engaged in a war a Foutraiice, 
and while he believed in the virtues of continuous fighting, 
it is safe to say that he never ordered an assault, or consented 
to one, against the expressed judgment of the General charged 
with arranging the details. 

When Grant took command of the Army of the Potomac, 
as has been stated, it was not what it had once been. The 
different corps could never be made to act in vigorous concert 
either on the march or in battle. To use the celebrated figure 
of the balky team, " no two of them would work together." 
Changes were made for the sake of harmony and to promote 
zeal and good feeling ; but no efforts of this sort were ever 
* Official Report. 



186 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

entirely successful. There always remained a faction that be- 
lieved in the superiority of ]McClellan, and looked upon Grant 
with cynical distrust. They were not positively insubordi- 
nate, but were even more dangerous than if they had been ; 
ever ready to criticise this movement or that, and to lay all 
blunders at his door. They reasoned from Grant's ante- 
cedents that he was fortunate rather than able ; that he had 
been always victorious because he had not yet contended 
either with the best armies or the best Generals. They could 
not believe it possible that a man who had taken only a me- 
dium stand in his class at West Point, and had chosen the 
infantry service, should be great in anything, and it was 
thought that when he should encounter Lee and his army, he 
might possibly learn something about real warfare. It is but 
just to state that these sentiments were neither general nor 
powerful ; but, joined with the other difficulties of the situa- 
tion, they materially complicated the solution of the problem 
presented at that stage of the contest. But for the fact that 
the rank of Lieutenant-General, and the general command of 
all the national forces, carried with it the power to make and 
unmake whom he pleased, it is more than doubtful if even 
Grant, with all his courage and generalship, could have led 
the army through the first three days of the Wilderness, much 
less maintained its constancy till the end. But if there were 
doubters like the faction to which we have referred, the cause 
had its champions as well, who, like Lincoln and Stanton, in 
the Cabinet, with Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan and a host of 
gallant officers and men, in the field, inspired by the loyal 
spirit of the people, gave their whole strength to the support 
of the General into whose hands they had committed the des- 
tiny of the national cause. 

When the complete history of all this shall be recorded, it 
will be seen as not the least among the glories of our country, 
that it produced its leader, as it were, out of its own virtues; 
pure, unselfish, and just ; courageous, constant and self-re- 
liant ; watchful, patient, and full of hope ; clear-sighted, 
truthful, and magnanimous. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

lee's position at orange court house — GRANT DECIDES UPON HIS 
POLICY — HE ISSUES HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO MEADE — MEADE AR- 
RANGES DETAILS — THE ARMY ON THE MOVE — THE POSITION IN THE 
WILDERNESS — LEE DETERMINES TO FALL UPON GRANT — WARREN 
ATTACKED — THE ONSET BROKEN — THE BULK OF THE REBEL ARMY 
IN FRONT — THE ENGAGEMENT AT PARKER'S STORE — WILSON EN- 
COUNTERS STUART'S cavalry — BURNSIDE TAKES POSITION — THE 
CONTENDING ARMIES — A REMARKABLE FIELD — NO RULE OF MOD- 
ERN AVARFARE APPLICABLE — GRANT DECIDES TO BE THE ATTACK- 
ING PARTY — LEE ALSO RESOLUTE — THE UNION ARMY MOVES TO 
THE ATTACK — THE BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS — DESPERATE 
FIGHTING — SHERIDAN'S OPERATIONS — REFLECTIONS. 

The defensive line occupied by Lee at Orange Court House, 
was well selected and thoroughly strengthened. Covered by 
the Rapidan, a stream of considerable size Avith steep banks 
and difficult fords, flanked on the east by the Wilderness, and 
on the west by the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge, a direct attack 
was entirely out of the question, and to turn it was exceed- 
ingly difficult. But Grant was not the man to remain long in 
doubt as to what policy to pursue. A turning movement to- 
wards his right, avoiding the Wilderness, throwing him into 
the open countiy, and more directly upon the rebel lines of 
communication, seemed to promise better results in case of 
immediate success ; but on the other hand it would carry him 
away from his own communications and leave him in greater 
danger in case of a drawn battle, or a counter attack from 
the enemy. He hoped to be able to crush Lee at a single 
blow or at most in a few days, but he was too sagacious to 
count certainly upon this. He therefore determined to move 
by the left flank, crossing the Rapidan by the loAver fords and 



188 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

pushing through the Wilderness towards the open country in 
the direction of Spottsylvania. Accordingly on the 3d of 
May all arrangements having been perfected, the troops fully 
equipped, armed, and supplied with three days' cooked ra- 
tions, the cavalry and artillery horses newly shod and the 
army concentrated in the neighborhood of Culpepper and 
Brandy Station, he issued his instructions to Meade for the 
movement to begin. That officer arranged the details as 
follows : Wilson, with the Third cavalry division, about 
3,000 strong, was ordered to move from his camp near 
Stevensburg at one o'clock, on the morning of Thursday, May 
4th, and to cross the Rapidan at Germania Ford, covering the 
construction of a pontoon bridge at that place and clearing the 
way for the infantry of Warren's corps, which was directed 
to follow close upon him. As soon as Warren's advanced 
division had crossed the river, Wilson was to move out by 
the old Wilderness Tavern and take the road to Parker's 
store, scouting the country in all directions and keeping the 
infantry informed of rebel movements. Sedgwick was di- 
rected to follow Warren, keeping close up. Gregg, with the 
Second cavalry division, about 3,500 strong, was ordered to 
move at the same time to Ely's Ford, still lower down the 
river, covering the mai-ch and clearing the way for Hancock's 
corps towards Chancellorsville. Torbert with the first cav- 
alry division, about 3,500 strong, was to cover the trains and 
the rear of the army ; strongly picketing the river from 
Rapidan Station to Germania Ford, and holding the line from 
Mitchell's Station to Culpepper ; as soon as the crossing 
should be secured he was directed to rejoin Sheridan at 
Chancellorsville. 

Precisely at midnight the movement began. Wilson's ad- 
vanced guard crossed the river at 3.50, a. m., driving back 
the rebel pickets, and by six o'clock the bridge was laid and 
his division formed in line, a mile in advance of the ford.* 

*Swinton incorrectly states that tlie passage of the cavalry began at six 
o'clock, whereas the last man had crossed ten minutes before six. See Gen- 
eral Wilson's official report. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. 'GRANT. 189 

"Warren began crossing soon afterwards, and by noon his ad- 
vanced division, covered by the cavalry, had reached Wilder- 
ness Tavern, at the crossing of the Orange Turnpike and the 
Germania Ford roads, where he bivouacked for the night. 
Sedgwick kept well closed up, crossed the bridge during the 
afternoon, and encamped before dark about a mile beyond the 
ford. Hancock's corps reached the river also at an early 
hour in the morning, found the cavalry across and the bridge 
ready, and therefore lost but little time in following, camp- 
ing for the night on Hooker's old battle-ground. Neither 
column had encountered the enemy, except the small force of 
pickets which had been watching the river. These were 
rapidly driven back by Wilson's advance, and were pursued 
by a small force as far as Mine Kun. The country was 
thoroughly scouted along all the roads leading towards the 
stream, without encountering Lee's forces in any strength. 
The crossing was evidently a surprise, but the rebel General 
was in no manner cast down by it. He knew that he could 
not hold the line of the Rapidan, a fordable river, so strongly 
as to keep it intact, and therefore wisely held his army con- 
centrated in an advantageous position, ready to strike in what- 
ever direction circumstances might require. His pickets gave 
him timely notice, and with ready determination he moved to 
the attack. 

On the morning of the 5th of May, Grant's army, between 
90,000 and 100,000 strong, lay in the Wilderness in the 
following order: Wilson at Parker's store, Warren and Sedg- 
wick on the road from Germania Ford to Wilderness Tavern, 
Hancock at Chancellorsville, Sheridan with Gregg and Tor- 
bert near by. The orders of the day did not contemplate a 
battle, although the troops were disposed in such a manner 
as to be prepared for attack. Wilson was directed to move 
at five o'clock a. M. to Craig's meeting-house on the Cathar- 
pen road, keeping out parties on the Orange Court House 
pike and plank-road, and sending scouts well out on all the 
roads to the south and west. Warren was directed to move 
at the same hour to Parker's store, extending his right towards 



190 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Sedgwick, who was to move to old Wilderness Tavern as 
soon as the roads were clear. Hancock was to march towards 
Shady Grove Church, extending his right towards AYarren's 
left at Parker's store. Sheridan, with Gregg and Torbert, 
was directed against the enemy's cavalry at Hamilton Cross- 
ing. Wilson moved promptly at the hour designated, leaving 
the Fifth Xew York cavah-y. Colonel John Hammond com- 
manding, to hold Parker's store till relieved by Warren's ad- 
vance ; but by dawn this gallant regiment was hotly attacked, 
of which due notice was given to the troops in the rear. 

Lee had taken his determination to fall upon Grant while 
still entangled in the Wilderness, and during the night put 
his entire army in motion by the two roads leading from his 
position to Fredericksburg, intersecting the roads from the 
Rapidan to Richmond at right angles. Ewell's corps was 
thrown forward on the old turnpike, and Hill's on the plank- 
road, while Longstreet's corps, which had occupied the ex- 
treme left of Lee's line, was rapidly withdrawn from Gor- 
donsville, and ordered to the front. The two armies had 
bivouacked within five or six miles of each other, and both 
were on the alert at an early hour. 

Griffia's division of Warren's corps had been thrown to the 
right of old Wilderness Tavern on the turnpike, the evening 
before, relieving the cavalry, and posting its own pickets well 
out. 

Warren had hardly got his column in motion when his cov- 
ering division was attacked with great vehemence, his pickets 
falling back rapidly. His orders to Crawford, commanding 
his advance division, were to push forward to Parker's as 
rapidly as possible, but that officer, although informed by 
Colonel INIcIntosh, who commanded a brigade of Wilson's 
division, and had just joined Hammond's hard pressed regi- 
ment, that the rebel infantry were advancing in force, moved 
with great deliberation, and did not reach Parker's at all. 
The intensity of the rebel attack in the meantime had in- 
creased to such a pitch, that a general battle was now cer- 
tain. Warren lost no time in deploying Wads worth's division 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 191 

abreast of, and to the left of Griffin's on the plank-roatl. 
Robinson's division was held in reserve, with one brigade in 
line on Wadsworth's left. Wright's division of the Sixth 
corps, was also ordered into position on the right of this line. 
"With this force, a vigorous attack was made upon the ad- 
vancing rebels, driving them back rapidly and in confusion ; 
the heaviest of the fighting being done by Ayers' and Bart- 
lett's brigades. But Ewell's leading division was soon sup- 
ported by the rest of his corps, and in turn drove back 
Warren's entire line. The woods were so tangled and thick 
that the alignment could not be kept ; Crawford's division was 
separated from Wadsworth, and the latter from the main 
force arrived on the turnpike ; while Wright, for a similar 
reason, found it impossible to bring his division properly to 
AVarren's support. Under such circumstances; these sub- 
divisions of his command were unable to make head against 
the force bearing down upon them, although they struggled 
gallantly. 

Warren had, therefore, nothing to do but to withdraw his 
troops to a new line somewhat to the rear but still in front of 
Wilderness Run. Had his attack been properly supported, 
Evvell must have been routed before assistance could have 
reached him ; but this was a matter of detail which Grant 
could not, in person, take the time to regulate. As it was, 
the force of Lee's onset was broken, and his object dis- 
covered. It was now certain that the bulk of the rebel 
army was in our front, bent upon cutting the Army of the 
Potomac in two, and, if possible, driving it to the north side 
of the Rapidan. 

Grant therefore directed Meade to recall Hancock's col- 
umn, which had moved at the appointed time, southwai'd by 
the way of Todd's Tavern. It was ordered to countermarch 
by the Brock road, and take position on Warren's left. In 
the meantime. Hill's corps moving on the Orange plank-road, 
had encountered Hammond's regiment, and, after a severe 
engagement, in which Colonels Hammond and Mcintosh be- 
haved with great gallantry, had driven it from Parker's, but 



192 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

not till Getty's tlivlslon. of the Sixth corps had reached the 
cross-roads, four miles to the eastward, and put itself in po- 
sition to check Hill's advance. The intention of the latter 
was evidently to march down the Orange plank-road till he 
reached the Brock road, and then turning to the northward 
to throw himself upon what he supposed to be the flank of 
Grant's army. Fortunately this purpose was counteracted 
by the immovable stand made by Getty at the intersection of 
the roads. Hancock reached this position at three o'clock, 
and after beginning the construction of a line of breastworks 
along the Brock road, he was ordered to advance against Hill 
and if possible drive him beyond the position at Parker's 
store. A kw minutes past four o'clock the attack was made 
in fine style by Getty's division, which encountered the rebels 
in great strength only a few hundred yards to the front. Han- 
cock went to his support with Birney's and Mott's divisions, 
and soon afterwards the greater part of Gibbon's and Bar- 
low's divisions, with all the artillery, became engaged, press- 
ing forward with great ardor ; but our troops could not carry 
the rebel position, or break the rebel lines, although they did 
not relinquish the eifort until after nightfall. 

In order to relieve the pressure, on Hancock's front, and to 
strike Hill on the flank, Warren was directed to send a force 
from his left towards Parker's store. Wadsworth's division 
and Baxter's brigade were selected, and began the movement 
at about four o'clock, but they experienced such difficulty in 
penetrating the tangled forest that it was dark before Wads- 
v.orth could make himself felt by the enemy. Wilson's di- 
vision, in the meantime, reached Craig's meeting-house at an 
early hour in the morning, and just beyond there encountered 
the rebel cavalry under Stuart, driving it rapidly back more 
than a mile. His ammunition becoming exhausted, he was in 
turn repulsed, and shortly afterwards ascertained that the rebel 
infantry had dislodged his regiment from Parker's store, and 
interposed between him the main army. Uniting his division 
as rapidly as possible, he struck across the country, and, after 
severe fighting, succeeded in forming a junction with Gregg's 



i 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 193 

division at Todd's Tavern. Sheridan, having learned early 
in the day that the rebel cavalry at Hamilton Crossing had 
rejoined Lee, concentrated his corps on the left of the army, 
confronting the rebel cavalry under Stuart, defeating all his 
attempts to reach our trains, and holding all the country from 
Hancock's left, by the way of Todd's Tavern, to Piney 
Branch Church. The Ninth corps, under Burnside, had 
been instructed to hold a position on the north side of the 
Rapidan for twenty-four hours after the army had crossed. 
It was now ordered to the front, and, after a long and fa- 
tiguing march, reached the field on the morning of the 6th, 
where it was assigned a position between Warren and Han- 
cock. Longstreet was also hastening to re-enforce Lee. 

The operations of the 5th, as has been seen, were of some- 
what desultory character, the principal efforts of both armies 
being to secure a position for delivering battle favorably. It 
has been said that Grant's moving columns were surprised 
and caught in flank, but this is not so; for although he had 
hoped to get through the Wilderness before encountering 
Lee, he had disposed of his forces to the best possible advan- 
tage, in anticipation of a battle. It has been shown that the 
first, and even the second, decided attacks were made by 
Grant's forces, and not by Lee's. 

The field upon which the contending armies were concentra- 
ted, is one of the most remarkable ever known. It is a 
wilderness of low and bristling pines, intermingled with scrub 
oaks and hazels, whose sombre shade is relieved only at dis- 
tant intervals by scanty clearings and scrubby openings. The 
face of the country is gently undulating, though here and 
there cut deeply by winding brooks which flow into old 
Wilderness Run. The roads are narrow and poor and very 
ft'w. Infantry could scarcely force its way through the 
tangled underbrush, while artillery and cavalry were entirely 
out of the question, except when opportunity occurred to 
move them by the roads. No tactics, except those of the skir- 
misher, could avail. Maneuvering was impossible. Neither 
officers nor men could see fifty paces beyond them. The 
13 



194 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Union Generals were compelled to rely exclusively upon 
the valor of their men, and to direct the battle by the ear 
or compass. Lee, on the other hand, having fought over the 
same ground, was familiar with its peculiarities. 

Grant, with his usual aggressive determination, decided to 
be the attacking party on the 6th, and gave his instructions to 
Meade accordingly. Lee had also taken the resolution to be 
beforehand with offensive movements , but owing to the delay 
of Longstreet in joining him, he was compelled to defer his 
attack upon Grant's left, and occupied the first hour of the 
morning in making a threatening demonstration along the front 
of Sedgwick's corps, beginning some fifteen or twenty minutes 
before the time set by Grant for the general advance. It will 
be remembered that Sedgwick held the right, Warren and 
Burnside the centre, and Hancock the left, covered and sup- 
ported on the extreme left and rear by Sheridan's cavalry. 
In this order the Union troops moved to the attack. Sey- 
mour's brigade and Eickett's division repulsed the rebel 
demonstration readily, while the rest of Sedgwick's corps 
advanced its lines some two or three hundred yards without 
much serious opposition; but the action soon became hot, 
and raged with desperation at intervals throughout the day. 
Sedgwick and his officers did all in their power ; but tlie 
rebels, who had fortified their position during the day and 
night previous, could not be dislodged, while "Warren's corps, 
which lay across the Orange Turnpike, having been called 
upon at an early hour to send two divisions to assist Hancock, 
could give Sedgwick little effective help. Lee, it seems, had 
conceived the idea of crushing Grant's left by an early and 
overwhelming attack, but before he could make his disposi- 
tion for carrying this plan into effect, Hancock promptly at 
five o'clock in the morning, advanced with his two right 
divisions, and Getty's division of the Sixth corps, along 
both sides of the Orange plank-road, striking the rebels 
within a few hundred paces, and sweeping them rapidly 
back in the direction of Parker's store. Wadsworth led 
his division of the Fifth corps forward at the same time. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 195 

After an hour's most desperate fighting, the whole rebel 
position in Hancock's front was carried. The right of Hill's 
corps was driven back nearly two miles, through the heavy 
woods ; his artillery and trains were in sight of the triumph- 
ant soldiers of the Union, and fortune seemed about to reward 
their courage and endurance with a complete and overwhelm- 
ing victory ; when Hancock unwisely called a halt for the pur- 
pose of reforming his scattered but exultant battalions. Two 
precious hours were irrevocably lost, and although Hancock 
in the interval was re-enforced by Frank's brigade of Bar- 
low's division, Wadsworth's division of the Fifth and Steven- 
son's division of the Ninth corps, when he again assayed to 
advance and complete the work so fortunately begun, he met 
with most bitter opposition. The rebel leader had strength- 
ened his imperilled right by advancing Anderson's division ; 
he had also despatched most urgent orders to Longstreet to 
quicken his already rapid march. The latter had been previ- 
ously directed to throw himself strongly against Hancock's 
left, but was now ordered to hurry to the support of Hill. 
Never a laggard in battle, he arrived upon the field before the 
onset was renewed, and, taking position on the extreme right 
of the rebel line, succeeded in retrieving the disasters of the 
morning. 

Gibbon had been left with his own and Barlow's division 
to hold the intersection of the Brock and plank-roads, and 
to cover the flank of the assailing force from any turnino- 
movement on the part of the enemy ; but when Hancock 
found himself so far advanced on the right, and the two 
wings of his corps separated by such a wide interval, he or- 
dered Gibbon also to advance. That officer, apprehensive of 
the flank movement against which he had been warned, sent 
only one brigade to strengthen the advanced line. A part of 
Lee's plan was for Stuart to advance along the Catharpen 
road, and to fall upon Grant's extreme left. This movement 
began at an early hour, but was frustrated by Sheridan in a 
gallant fight at Todd's Tavern, the sound of which, however, 
was borne to the ears of Gibbon and Hancock, and Increased 



196 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

their apprehensions. Under these circumstances, almost one- 
half of Hancock's best troops were paralyzed, instead of be- 
ing thrown with crushing violence upon the already shattered 
lines of Hill's corps. 

This apprehension for the left seems to have been fully 
shared by General Meade ; for at one o'clock he notified to 
Sheridan that Hancock had been heavily pressed and his left 
turned,* and directed that the cavalry should be " drawn in " 
to protect the trains. Sheridan complied with this order by 
moving in towards Chancellorsville, while the enemy imme- 
diately occupied Todd's Tavern, Piney Branch Church, and 
the Furnaces. This withdrawal was founded upon a false 
report ; but it nevertheless gave the rebels a terrible advan- 
tage, and threw the entire army into imminent jeopardy. On 
the other hand, had Hancock's success of the morning been 
properly supported and pushed forward, or had his advanced 
position been strengthened by properly constructed entrench- 
ments, the advantages of the day must have been greatly in> 
our favor, if they had not ended in a complete victory. 

During the entire forenoon Longstreet's corps continued to 
arrive upon the field. His leading division had enabled Hill 
to withstand the renewal of Hancock's advance; and now it 
became the rebel turn to press forward under the inspiring 
eflfect of success. The attack fell at first upon Frank's bri- 
gade, the extreme left of Hancock's advanced line, which, after 
making the best resistance possible, was completely overrun. 
Mott's division then received the shock of the rebel onset, 
then Getty's, and, in time, the entire line under Hancock's 
personal supervision, including Wadsworth's division of War- 
ren's corps. One of the most determined and bloody strug- 
gles of the war ensued ; but the national divisions, in spite 
of the heroic efforts of men and officers, were gradually 
pressed back to the position from which they had advanced 
at dawn. In the midst of the struggle, the gallant and pa- 
triotic Wadsworth was mortally wounded, and fell into the 

* Report of Major-General Sheridan, Conduct of tlie War, Supplement, ; 
vol. ii., p. 19. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 197 

hands of the enemy. The rebel leaders seemed to be inspired 
with a perfect frenzy of determination, and exposed themselves 
feai'lessly wherever the action was hottest. Longstreet wag 
severely wounded and carried from the field while in the act of 
completing; his dispositions for crushing Hancock's left. Lee 
succeeded him in the personal supervision of the attack, and 
again hurled Hill's and Longstreet's corps against Hancock's 
sorely tried divisions, now fortunately covered by the entrench- 
ments along the Brock road. The left had been thrown back 
across that road, fortified and strongly re-enforced ; and had 
the woods not taken fire in front of the line during the final 
assault, the rebels must have been easily repulsed. As it was, 
they dashed through the flames and smoke, and a few of the 
more adventurous succeeded in crossing the breastworks, the 
defenders of which fled towards Chancellorsville. 

This success was short, for Carroll's brigade, then In re- 
serve, dashed forward in gallant style, and re-established the 
line. Night closing in, the battle on the outer flank was sus- 
pended ; but the enemy, massing swiftly on his left under 
Gordon, unexpectedly assailed Sedgwick's corps in front and 
flank, with great fury, overthrowing Seymour's and Shaler's 
brigades, and taking with those Generals nearly 4,000 pris- 
oners. For a few minutes it seemed that nothing but a mira- 
cle could save the army ; but the gallant and Imperturbable 
Sedgwick lost no time In throwing back his right and re-es- 
tablishing his corps against the Impetuous but disorderly 
onset of the rebels. The darkness of night, deepened by the 
impenetrable shades of the Wilderness, put an end to the 
second days' battle. The loss on both sides had been un- 
usually heavy, though the advantages gained were greatly in 
favor of the national army. Lee had chosen his own line of 
attack, and made his plan of battle with the intention of 
forcing Grant back upon the Eapldan ; but before the first 
movement could be made he was foiled by Grant, who foi'ced 
the fighting with such determination as to seriously threaten 
the complete destruction of Lee's army before noon. The 
sudden and overwhelming onset of Hancock, threw Lee es- 



198 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

sentially upon the defensive, in which attitude he remained 
during the remainder of the campaign, notwithstanding the 
fact that he resolutely availed himself of every opportunity 
to make an offensive return, and to re-establish his lines 
whenever broken. The actual result of Gordon's attack 
upon Sedgwick was insignificant, with the exception of the 
damage infiicted upon Grant's army by the loss of prisoners 
and the exaggerated influence it produced in the minds of 
such persons as had a longing desire for an encampment on 
the north side of the Kapidan. Grant himself was not shaken 
in his purpose. He knew that if he had not defeated Lee, he 
had at least not suffered defeat; and as it had never been his 
custom to rest content with a drawn battje, it did not occur to 
him that there was anything else to be done but to go ahead. 
In most accounts of the two days in the Wilderness, Sher- 
idan's operations are hardly mentioned, although it has been 
seen that they had an important influence upon the course of 
events. Had not the march of the rebel infantry along the 
Orange plank-road been checked at Parker's store by Mcin- 
tosh, and had not the movement of the rebel cavalry under 
Stuart on the Catharpen road been foiled by the actions at 
Craig's meeting-house and Todd's Tavern, under Wilson and 
Gregg, the result of the second day's battle might have been 
entirely different. Stuart would have turned the left of Han- 
cock's line, fallen upon our trains and rear, and, in some de- 
gree, accomplished what Longstreet aimed at by his move- 
ment against the Brock road. The most prominent feature, 
however, of the actions in the Wilderness, was the overthrow 
of the rebel right by Hancock, Getty, and Wadsworth, the 
loss of the advantage due to this fortunate movement by an 
apprehension for our left and the great difficulty of maintaining 
a close and orderly array. The return of the rebels re-en- 
forced by Longstreet, and the assault upon Sedgwick's right, 
were subordinate incidents, grave enough in their character, 
and, to a General of less resolute temper, or duller perception 
than Grant, might have been looked upon as a sufficient rea- 
son for relinquishing the campaign in its outset. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 199 

It has been asserted that m this battle Grant made little ac- 
count of those arts that accomplish results by the direction 
and combination of forces, and that he avowedly despised 
maneuvering at that period, relying exclusively on the appli- 
cation of brute masses in rapid and remorseless blows ; * but 
when it is remembered that the dense forest in which he was 
compelled to give battle, was an unknown region through 
which no vision could penetrate, and in which no tactical or 
strategic skill could be made available, it will be sufficiently 
understood why he was unable to avail himself of the suc- 
cesses which followed his first combinations. But this battle 
is not to be judged by ordinary rules. It was probably the 
strangest ever fought. The maneuvers by which it was in- 
troduced, and the direction of the forces as they plunged into 
the Wilderness, could not have been more advantageously or 
brilliantly combined; and without referring to the strategy of 
Vicksburg and Chattanooga, they are a sufficient answer to the 
criticism just mentioned. General Grant may indeed have 
said, as alleged, that he never maneuvered ; but if so, it may 
fairly be assumed that the remark was intended as a rebuke 
to the empty spirit of pedantry at one time so common in that 
army, and under the influence of which it had too frequently 
striven to avoid battle, or had lost opportunities which, with 
more action and less theory, might have led to victory and to 
good fortune. It is well known, however, that in the Wilder- 
ness, as everywhere else during the overland campaign, the 
tactics, whatever may have been their merit or demerit, were 
Meade's ; while the heroic resolution which carried the army 
through " the region of gloom and the shadow of death," 
was Grant's. It was no blind faith in the policy of "ham- 
mering continuously," nor lack of fiiith in judicious combi- 
nations, which saved the army from the perils that beset it in 
that " battle which no man could see." Grant knew that the 
battle had not been fought through, and was confident that, 
uncovered by breastworks, upon a fair field, his army was su- 
perior to Lee's, and he was morally certain that it had suf- 
* Swinton's " Army of the Potomac." 



200 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

fered proportionally no more than Lee's in tlie two days' 
death-grapple which it had passed through. But, more than 
all, he felt that the country stood in absolute need of victory, 
and, like a true citizen, he determined that it should not be dis- 
appointed, no matter what the cost. To prove that Grant did 
not miscalculate, it is only necessary to point to the result. 
At no time after the battle of the Wilderness did Lee show 
the boldness which had previously characterized him; for he 
had learned a lesson in the preliminary struggle that he could 
never forget. He had found his superior in pluck and gen- 
eralship, and ever afterwards played his game as warily as 
if he felt a prophetic certainty that defeat must eventually 
overtake him as well as the cause he was upholding. The 
days of rapid maneuvering in which he commanded both 
armies, had passed, and there was nothing left him but to 
conform to the irrevocable decrees of fate. 

The Army of the Potomac had at last found its hero, wdio, 
clear of head, stout of heart, loyal, true, and brave, was des- 
tined to hold it to the work of National salvation till the rebel 
power should be broken and destroyed, and Richmond, like 
another Vicksburg, should fall before his unrelenting blows. 
There are many who well remember the night of the 6th of 
ISIay, when a terrible disaster seemed about to overwhelm us, 
and it was whispered with bated breath that we should be 
compelled to retreat by obscure roads and difficult fords to 
the north side of the Rapldan. The turning of the Sixth 
corps introduced one of those crises calculated to shake the 
fortitude of the stoutest heart, and upon which, it is not too 
much to assert, the success of our cause depended with trem- 
ulous uncertainty. A single blunder, or a moment's hesita- 
tion, would have covered the army with disgrace. The situ- 
ation was such as to demand every heroic quality in the com- 
mander whose shoulders were required to bear the burthen of 
that perilous emergency; and when Grant, surpassing the 
steadiness indicated by the hereditary motto of his clan, — 
"Stand ftist: Craig Ellachie!"— with that restrained but in- 
domitable resolution which has never failed him, gave utter- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 201 

ance to the order : " Forward to Spottsylvania ! " there was nut 
a heroic nature in all that host but felt its troubles lightened. 
Every true soldier knew by instinct that the greatest danger 
had past. The Army of the Potomac from that moment en- 
tered upon a new career; hitherto it had in no single instance 
fought its battle through, or reaped the legitimate fruits of 
the contest ; but henceforth it was destined never to turn 
back, or to rest in the struggle till crowned with the laurels of 
victory. From that day forth, although baffled, delayed, and 
staggered, it held its way onward through the terrible times of 
Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomoy, Cold Harbor, and 
the investment of Petersburg, sternly and courageously for a 
whole year, meeting the enemy in almost daily battle. It is 
true that the wisest sometimes doubted, and the hearts of the 
bravest occasionally grew faint and despondent, — but the army 
gloriously responded to the call of duty; and yet it is not too 
much to say that without a greater quality than the discipline 
and organization for which it has been so justly lauded, even 
Grant himself could not have led it through such a campaign 
to its final triumph. The spirit of the people living in its 
ranks, answered the call of its leader, and carried it still 
onward, wheu discipline alone was powerless. 



CHAPTER XX 11. 

THE RKBELS RETIRE TO THEIR FORTIFICATIONS — THE UNION ARMY 
TURNS TOWARDS 8POTTSYLVANIA — LEE FORTIFIES AT SPOTTSYL- 
VANIA — SHERIDAN IN QUEST OF THE REBEL CAVALRY — THE POSI- 
TIONS OF GRANT AND LEE — DEATH OF GENERAL SEDGWICK — THE 
ASSAULT OF COLONEL UPTON — GRANT'S BULLETIN TO THE WAR 
DEPARTMENT — CONTINUED SKIRMISHING — HANCOCK'S SUCCESS — 
SEVERE FIGHTING — MANEUVERING — SHERIDAN ON A RAID — DE- 
STROYS RAILROADS, STORES, ETC. 

At an early hour on the 7th of May, Grant threw forward 
his skirmishers to ascertain the movements of the enemy ; 
while Sheridan dispatched AVilson's division from Chancel- 
lorsville towards Germania Ford, for the purpose of ascer- 
taining whether any part of the insurgent force had interposed 
itself between Sedgwick and the river. By these means it 
was soon ascertained that the rebels had retired to their for- 
tified line, and no longer courted battle. The trains, in the 
meantime, had been collected in the neighborhood of Chan- 
cellorsville, and at an early hour were ordered to move to 
Piney Branch Church ; but as this point and Todd's Tavern 
were both held by the rebel cavalry, Sheridan })arked the 
trains on the road toward Fredericksburg, and proceeded 
with Gregg's and Merritt's* divisions to drive back Stuart's 
horse, which he succeeded in doing after a severe engagement 
at Todd's Tavern. At three o'clock P. M., Meade issued the 
detailed orders for the movement of the army towards Spott- 
sylvania, beginning after nightfall, Warren withdrawing first, 
moving by the Brock road and Todd's Tavern, followed closely 
by Hancock ; while Sedgwick and Burnside were ordered to 
move by Chancellorsville and Piney Branch Church. Sheri- 
* The latter temporarily comnian Jed by General Torbert. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 203 

dan was instructed to keep a proper force well out in front of 
the exposed flank of the army. It was hoped that this move- 
ment would be made with such rapidity as to concentrate the 
army at Spottsylvania by an early hour in the morning ; but 
for a variety of reasons this expectation w^as not realized. 
The average distance to be marched did not exceed twelve 
miles ; but the troops never marched more slowly. Warren 
was delayed by General Meade's escort, and finally, it is 
claimed, by Merritt, with the first cavalry division ; but no 
such excuse can be given for the failure of the left column 
to reach the designated point upon which It was directed. 
Sheridan ordered Wilson to march at five o'clock A. M., by 
the way of Alsop's to the Fredericksburg road, to cross the 
Ny Eiver, and then to push forward to Spottsylvania Court 
House, forming a junction with Gregg and Merritt at Snell's 
Bridge.* It was understood, and Wilson was informed, that 
Burnside would follow closely upon the same route. The 
former, therefore, marched with great celerity, meeting with 
no resistance till he reached the crossing of the Ny, where he 
found a cavalry picket ; but, brushing it promptly out of the 
way, he dashed across the stream, and pushed rapidly towards 
the Court House, where he encountered and dispersed Wick- 
hams brigade of cavalry. Hearing heavy musketry to the 
northward on the roads to Todd's Tavern and Piney Branch 
Church, he held the cross-roads at the Court House with one 
brigade, and marched in the direction of the fighting wuth 

* Note. — " Had these movements been carried out successfully, it would 
probably have sufficiently delayed the march of the enemy to Spottsylvania 
Court House as to enable our infantry to reach that point first, and tlie battles 
fought there would have probably occurred elsewhere ; but upon the arrival 
of General Meade at Todd's Tavern the orders were changed, and Gfegg was 
simply directed by him to hold Corbin's Bridge, and Merritt's division ordered 
in front of the infantry column, marching on the road to Spottsylvania. In 
the darkness of the night, the cavalry and infantry becoming entangled in the 
advance, caused much confusion and delay. I was not duly advised of these 
changes, and for a time had fears for the safety of General Wilson's command, 
which had proceeded, in accordance with my instructions, to Spottsylvania, 
capturing and holding it till driven out by the advance of Longstreet's corps." 
Repoit of Major- General Sheridan, Supplemental RepoH on the Conduct of the War, 
vol. ii., p. 19. 



204 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the Other, but had not proceeded more than a half or tliree 
quarters of a mile before his advance found itself behind a 
line of the rebel infantry, which it assailed, capturing prison- 
ers from two divisions of Longstreet's corps, and recapturing 
some of Warren's men who had just been taken. At this 
juncture of affairs, the arrival of one of Burnside's divisions 
would have given Grant firm possession of Spottsylvauia, 
besides enabling him to crush Longstreet by an attack front 
and rear ; but, for some reason not sufficiently explained, 
Meade had, in the meantime, suspended the entire movement. 
Upon learning this, Sheridan ordered "Wilson to withdraw 
from Spottsylvauia, and to rejoin the army on the north side 
of the aSj. 

The column on the Brock road led by Merritt's division 
was strongly resisted by Stuart's cavalry, which had been 
driven back several miles the day before, but which still 
maintained a determined front. Merritt, weakened by the 
detachment of Gregg, made but slow progress in advancing 
through the heavily wooded country, and after several hours' 
hard work was relieved by Warren's leading division, under 
Robinson. The rebel cavalry in falling back had taken the 
precaution to barricade the roads, so that Robinson's advance 
was not made with any remarkable rapidity. However, about 
eight o'clock, a. m., it reached an open field nearly two miles 
north of the Court House, with rising, heavily wooded ground 
beyond, upon which the enemy was seen to be in considerable 
force. Hastily forming his troops, Robinson, assisted by 
Warren in person, advanced to the attack, but had not suc- 
ceeded in crossing half the open space before he received a 
terrible fire of musketry, which threw the entire division into 
great confusion; General Robinson was severely wounded. 
Neither officers nor men expected to be met so soon by their 
old antagonists of the Wilderness, and hence fell back with- 
out delay to the woods from which they had advanced, and 
where it was difficult to halt and reform them. Griffin's di- 
vision, which had been thrown forward on Robinson's right, 
received the same unexpected greeting, and also fell back. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 205 

Crawford's division and Cutler's (formerly Wadswortli's), 
were hurried forward, and succeeded, after some sharp fight- 
ing, in carrying a part of the rebel position, thus relieving the 
pressure against Robinson and Griffin. 

The corps was now developed, and involuntarily fell to en- 
trenching. The force which had thus checked AYarren and 
paralyzed the entire movement against Spottsylvania, was 
the advanced division of Longstreet's corps, which had just 
arrived. It was not till some hours afterwards that Lee 
fully discovered the extent and scope of Grant's southward 
march, and not till night that he had succeeded in concen- 
trating his army in front of Spottsylvania. In the meantime, 
Meade had become alarmed for his right flank and rear, and 
had halted Hancock at Todd's Tavern for the purpose of 
resisting any movement along the Catharpen road. Sedg- 
wick, who had closed upon Warren and put a part of his 
corps into position facing the new rebel front, late in the 
afternoon decided to make an attack, and gave orders to that 
effect ; but the attack was made by an insufficient force, con- 
sisting of the New Jersey brigade and Crawford's division. 
The former was repulsed, but the latter caught a part of 
Ewell's corps in flank, and drove it rapidly for some distance, 
capturing a hundred prisoners and one flag. Burnside and 
Hancock did no fighting whatever, so that between fortifying 
in front and watching for the rebels in flank and rear, Lee 
was quietly suffered to march by the nearest route, and put 
his army directly in the road along which Grant wished to 
march. The rebel commander showed no desire to take the 
offensive in any manner whatever, but fell to work rapidly 
and silently to fortify the ridges lying about Spottsylvania, 
which were to become his new bulwark of defense. Fortune, 
and the slow marching of the national troops, had favored 
him more than he ought to have expected ; the shovels, 
picks, and axes of his men did the rest towards preparing 
Spottsylvania for the desperate struggle about to burst upon 
its quiet and hitherto peaceful surroundings. 

On Monday, the 9th of May, Sheridan, with all the cavalry, 



206 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

was despatched upon a movement towards Ricliraond in quest 
of the rebel horse, and for the purpose of breaking Lee's com- 
munications with the rear ; while the four corps of infantry 
took up their position in the general line already determined 
by the events of the preceding day. Hancock, marching to 
the field by the road from Todd's Tavern, went to Warren's 
right, and formed the right of the Union line on high ground 
overlooking the valley of the Po. Sedgwick was already on 
Warren's left, and Burnside, crossing the Ny, near the road 
upon which he was originally expected to move, formed the 
left of the line, on a ridge conforming to one of the branches 
of the I\y. Lee had formed his army along the irregular 
ridge separating the vallies of the Ny and Po, and sweeping 
around Spottsylvania on the arc of a circle, covering all the 
roads centering at that place. Longstreet held the left, Evvell 
the center, and Hill the right. The contending lines were 
drawn so closely to each other that no advance could take 
place on either side without bringing on a battle. Neither 
army lost time in fortifying its position, but with the excep- 
tion of the usual fusillade kept up by the skirmishers, no 
fighting took place during the day. Lee rested content with 
holding himself ready to repel attack, while Grant and his 
subordinates were eagerly seeking for a flaw or a weak point in 
the enemy's well established lines, through which an effective 
blow might be struck. During the afternoon, while engaged 
in examining the rebel lines from an advanced part of his 
own, General Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth corps, was 
killed by a rebel rifle shot, which struck him full in the face. 
He had just been bantering the men near him for seeking 
cover behind their parapets, as the rebel bullets were whis- 
tling over them, when he received the fatal blow. This unfor- 
tunate event caused the most profound grief throughout the 
army, as well as in his own corps, for he was not only regarded 
as one of the best, bravest, and most discreet commanders, 
but was generally beloved for his rare personal qualities. He 
was justly respected as the Thomas of the Eastern armies ; 
endowed with every manly and soldierly quality, ripe in ex- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 207 

perience, brave and skillful in battle, patient and regular on 
the march, and full of ardent zeal for the cause of his country. 
His death was looked upon by Grant as a greater disaster than 
the loss of an entire division of troops would have been. lie 
was succeeded in command of the Sixth corps, by General 
H. G. Wright, an officer of experience and ability. 

During the afternoon, a rebel wagon train was observed 
moving southward towards Spottsylvania ; and as the road 
was not far from Hancock's right, he was directed to cross 
the Po, and after capturing the train, to try that flank of the 
rebel line. The movement began at once ; and although the 
stream was crossed without any material difficulty or delay, 
night set in before a blow could be struck. In the meantime 
the wagon train escaped, but at an early hour the next day 
the movement against the rebel left was continued. The en- 
tire army was now in position, and batteries were established, 
and the lines well entrenched. Hancock had not gone far 
before he found himself stopped by the deep vallies of an 
affluent of the Po, beyond which the enemy was posted in 
great strength. Throwing forward Brooks' brigade still 
farther to the right, he crossed, and began an attempt to de- 
velop the rebel position and strength. In the meantime It 
had also been decided to make an assault upon the rebel 
works in front of the Fifth and Sixth co-rps. Hancock's 
movement was accordingly suspended, and two divisions of 
his corps were ordered to recross the Po, for the purpose of 
joining in the assault. In obedience to this order. Gibbon 
and BIrney were withdrawn, leaving Barlow to hold the 
advanced position already gained, and to cover the retrograde 
movement. The rebels, however, were not slow to perceive 
this withdrawal, and therefore hastened ta attack the rear of 
Birncy's column. Fearing to Isolate any part of his corps, 
Hancock then decided to withdraw Barlow also, whose skir- 
mishers had already been attacked and pressed back. The 
rebels seemed to be Inspired by what they looked upon as a 
forced retreat of the troops confronting them, and made a 
decided attack upon this division, but met with a severe and 



208 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

bloody repulse. The woods taking fire complicated the dif- 
ficulties surrounding Hancock's rear, but the withdrawal was 
finally effected in good order, though many of the wounded 
were left behind, to perish in the flames or to languish In 
rebel hospitals. 

The principal point of attack in Warren's front, was a 
densely wooded ridge which the rebels had occupied and 
strongly fortified. During the morning, Gibbon's division of 
Hancock's corps had this position, but was repulsed with 
severe loss. At three o'clock P. M., Crawford's and Cutler's 
divisions of Warren's corps made a strong demonstration 
against the same point, but with no better fortune. So fiir 
the operations of the day had resulted in no substantial ad- 
vantage to the national arms except a tolerable understanding 
of the rebel position and its capability of defense. A weak 
point had been discovered in front of Russell's division of the 
Sixth corps, and a column of twelve picked regiments, under 
command of Colonel Emory Upton, of the One Hundred and 
Twentieth New York, an exceedingly able and Intrepid young 
oflScer of the regular army, was formed for the })urpose of 
assaulting this part of the rebel line ; Hancock and Warren 
were informed that this assault would be made, and were di- 
rected to support it with their entire corps. The remainder 
of the Sixth corps had similar orders. Upton made his dispo- 
sitions with great care and discretion — Instructed his officers 
and men minutely in the course they were to pursue during 
the charge, and also after the works should be carried, formed 
his battalions in column, and about five o'clock led them 
gallantly to the attack. 

So carefully had all his plans been made, and so suddenly 
and coherently were they carried into effect, that the rebel 
lines were completely broken, and several guns and nearly a 
thousand prisoners were taken. The success of the attack was 
all that could be wished, but the intrepid young commander 
was not satisfied with holding the works he had captured. 
He knew too well that the rebels would fiill upon him in 
tremendous force if he allowed them time to reform their dis- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 209 

ordered ranks ; he therefore turned at once to the right and 
left along their entrenchments, wrapping up and driving back 
the rebels holding them. The operation seemed to promise a 
complete victory, but unfortunately the Generals whose busi- 
ness it was to support the movement, did not lead their 
divisions forward until it was too late* Nobody but Grant 
and Upton appeared to have any confidence that the rebel 
works could be carried, and therefore nobody but Upton was 
ready for the part assigned him. The balky team could not 
be made to pull together, and hence Upton, after holding 
what he had gained till dark, was finally compelled to fall 
back to his own works. Thus a splendid opportunity was 
lost. Shortly afterwards, Hancock and Warren both led 
their corps bravely forward upon other and unshaken sec- 
tions of the rebel line, and although the men did all in their 
power to carry their standards into the rebel stronghold, they 
were compelled to relinquish the attempt, after having suf- 
fered heavily in killed and wounded. Generals J. C. Rice 
and T. G. Stevenson being among the former. The assaults 
were renewed an hour later, in the vain hope that they 
might be simultaneous, and result in victory, but this was 
not to be. The close of the day's fighting found the two 
hosts holding substantially the same positions they held In 
the morning, but Grant's confidence, although sorely tried, 
remained unshaken. He saw that the rebel lines when prop- 
erly attacked could be broken, that the men composing the 
army, whenever well led, acquitted themselves with courage 
and resolution, and he therefore felt confident that success 
must ultimately crown their exertions. At eight o'clock, on 
the 11th of May, he sent to the ^Yar Department the follow- 
ing characteristic bulletin : " We have ended the sixth day 
of very heavy fighting. The result to this time is much in 
our favor. Our losses have been heavy, as well as those of 
the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. 
We have taken 5,000 prisoners by battle, whilst he has taken 
from us but few except stragglers. I propose to fight it out on 

this line if it takes all summer." 
14 



210 LTPE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Fight it out he did, bravely, persistently, and patiently, 
against opposition and resistance which might well have 
shaken even his iron determination. 

On the 11th there was no general engagement, but continu- 
ous skirmishing was kept up and much time was devoted to 
reconnoitering the enemy's lines in the hope of finding a weak 
place in them. Hitherto the attack had been principally 
against Lee's left and left centre, but it was now determined 
to attack farther towards his right, where his lines made a 
strong salient. During the dark and stormy night of the 
11th, Hancock's corps drew out from its old entrenchments, 
and passing in rear of the Sixth corps went into position 
about midway between the PIney branch and Fredericksburg 
roads, some twelve hundred yards in front of the rebel works 
which it was required to storm. Hancock massed his corps 
as follows : Barlow's division, formed by brigade in regimental 
columns, doubled on the center, with Birney's dij/ision de- 
ployed in double lines, constituted the front of attack ; Mott's 
division supported BIrney, while Gibbon's division was held 
in reserve. The direction was given by the point of the com- 
pass, and at dawn on the morning of May 12th, the advan- 
cing columns emerged from the woods and without stopping to 
fire a shot marched at quick time against the enemy. When 
nearly half way towards the hostile line, the gallant veterans 
of the Second corps burst forth with a thundering cheer, and 
taking the double quick, pushed rapidly forward to the abattis, 
tearing it away, and rolling across the entrenchments beyond 
with an irresistible impulse. The rebels were taken by sur- 
prise but they rushed to their arms and made a gallant but 
ineffectual defense. BIrney and Barlow crossed their works 
almost simultaneously, and after a desperate battle with bay- 
onet, clubbed musket, and rifle shot, established themselves 
firmly in the rebel stronghold. They captured thirty field 
guns, two rebel Generals, and something over 3,000 prisoners. 
Hancock, after apprising Grant of his success, pushed forward 
in the hope of cutting the rebel army entirely in two, and 
completing the victory. He had struck Lee a staggering 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 211 

blow and another such would annihilate the rebel army of 
North Virginia. But the surprise was now over; and al- 
though the victors were inspired by success and pushing for- 
ward with determination, they were soon checked by a steady 
and well directed fire from an interior line of works, nearly a 
half mile beyond the line they had already carried. 

This checked the advance, and as the supporting corps 
were not at hand, the rebel commander was enabled to re- 
enforce his center by drawing troops from his flanks, and after 
a sharp fight drove Hancock back to the first position carried. 
Grant had foreseen the emergency, and hurried Wright's 
corps to aid Hancock, while Burnside and Warren were 
directed to attack along their fronts for the purpose of pre- 
venting an overwhelming assembly of rebels in front of the 
captured salient. Meade received orders to this effect in 
ample time, but his execution of them was too slow by twenty 
minutes or a half-hour. If Wright had followed closely after 
Hancock, with his forces well in hand ready to hurl them 
upon the broken lines of the enemy before they were able to 
reform, a complete victory might have been won, but oppor- 
tunities of this kind with a well-disciplined army rarely last 
more than five or ten minutes, so that when Wright did arrive, 
which was at six o'clock, he found Hancock closely beset by 
Lee, who was now exerting himself to the utmost to re-estab- 
lish his broken lines. Wright at once relieved that part of 
Hancock's line holding the rebel works to the right of the 
salient, while Hancock concentrated his corps on the left. 
Warren and Burnside assaulted about eight o'clock, but made 
no perceptible impression. The fight now became general 
all along the line. Lee made five furious assaults in quick 
succession with the intention of dislodging our men from the 
dearly bought works; and although the rebels fought with 
great fury, planting their flags in some instances in the very 
midst of the Union troops, they were repulsed each time with 
great loss. Finding that Warren could not carry the works 
in his front. Cutler's and Griffin's divisions were sent to sup- 
port Hancock and Wright, and render their tenure of the 



212 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT, 

salient as certain as it could be made. It was hoped, too, 
that a new movement might be conducted from this place, but 
our troops were unable to advance, though they ultimately 
succeeded in getting off twenty of the captured guns, and 
continued to hold firm possession of the salient which they 
had won at such a terrible cost. Lee fortified and held a 
line only a few paces to the front, so that his position became 
as secure as ever. 

The fighting of this day was as severe as any during the 
war, and it is to be doubted if musketry firing was ever kept 
up so incessantly as it was by the contending troops near the 
captured salient. The whole forest within range was blighted 
by it, and one tree eighteen inches in diameter was actually 
cut in two by the leaden bullets which struck it. The loss 
on both sides was great, but, the advantages gained by the 
Union array confirmed Grant in his plans, and reassured the 
army in its own prowess. 

The terrific battle of the 12th, having resulted in Lee's 
retiring to his inner line, Grant soon decided to undertake a 
movement against his right flank. With this view, the Fifth 
corps was withdrawn from its old position, on the right, and 
directed to move by the rear of the army to the extreme left. 
The march began at ten o'clock on the night of the 13th, but 
owing to the heavy rain which had fallen the day before, and 
to the dense fog which arose during the night, the troops 
moved with great difiiculty, and although fires had been 
lighted to guide them through the trackless woods, they did 
not reach the left of the line till daylight, and then in such a 
jaded condition as to deprive them of all hope of making a 
successful attack. The Sixth corps followed close upon the 
Fifth, and was followed in turn by the Second, and after 
much skirmishing with several sharp combats, intermitted by 
maneuvers and marches for position, hard work upon roads 
and a change of base to Acquia Creek, Grant formed his 
army on the 18th, facing nearly east, with its left flank at 
Massaponax' Church, and the right on the Fredericksburg 
road. Lee had gradually extended his lines in the same di- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 213 

rection, covering himself wherever it was possible by rifle- 
trench and iuiijenetrable slashings. By dawn of this day, the 
army was in position for an assault. It was hoped that by 
throwing a part of Hancock's corps rapidly back to the 
ground of its former victory, the enemy might be caught 
napping. Accordingly the divisions of Gibbon and Barlo^, 
supported by Birney, and Tyler's division of heavy artillery, 
drawn from the defenses of Washington, were selected for 
this purpose, and moved to the attack in two lines, but they 
were met by the enemy before they had advanced a quarter 
of a mile ; after suffering severe loss in trying to force their 
way through the slashing that encumbered the ground, they 
were forced to retire. 

Grant had, in the meantime, determined to carry the army 
forward by a turning movement towards the south. Prepara- 
tions for putting this plan into effect were begun on the after- 
noon of the 19th, but the enemy perceiving something of 
Grant's intention, made a bold demonstration against his ex- 
treme right, now held by the heavy artillery division under 
Tyler. Ewell sallied out from his works, crossed the Ny 
above Tyler's position, and swung in behind him striking the 
Fredericksburg road and taking possession of an ammunition 
train then marching to join the army. Tyler met this move- 
ment promptly and vigorously, driving the rebels quickly from 
the road and into the woods beyond. His men were unused 
to battle, although they had been in service nearly two years, 
but they fought like veterans, or even better and much more 
recklessly. Shortly after the action began, the Second and 
Fifth corps, were sent to Tyler's support and with him drove 
Ewell back into his works, taking several hundred prisoners. 
This threw Lee again upon the defensive, and enabled Grant 
to renew his southward march on the night of the 21st, direct- 
ing his columns by the way of Milford Station, and Chester- 
field towards the North Anna River. Lee, however, had 
again the shorter line and lost no time in hurrying his army 
towards Richmond for the purpose of intercepting his relent- 
less adversary. 



214 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

On emerging from the Wilderness, Grant had despatched 
Sheridan with the cavalry, led by Merritt, Gregg, and Wilson, 
on a raid, with orders to engage the rebel cavalry, break up 
Lee's communications, and then to threaten Richmond, and 
eventually communicate with Butler on the James River. 
Making a detour in the direction of Fredericksburg, and then 
moving directly southward, Sheridan crossed the North Anna 
on the 10th, and struck the Virginia Central Railroad at Beaver 
Dam Station, destroying ten miles of track, two locomotives, 
three trains of cars, and a million and a half of rations. He 
also liberated four hundred prisoners, taken in the Wilderness 
and now on the road to captivity in Libby prison. The march 
had hardly begun before Lee's scouts informed him of it. As 
was expected, Stuart with the mass of rebel cavalry, started 
at once in pursuit, and came up with Sheridan's rear on the 
North Anna, but was easily repulsed. Sheridan crossed the 
South Anna at Ground Squirrel Bridge and pushed on to- 
wards Richmond with Merritt and Wilson, but sent Gregg to 
the left for the purpose of striking the railroad at Ashland 
Station. Moving rapidly, Gregg reached the station just after 
daylight, and destroyed one train of cars, a large lot of army 
supplies and six miles of track. While engaged in this work, his 
rear brigade was attacked by Stuart, but after a sharp fight, 
succeeded in driving him off. Sheridan moving down the di- 
rect turnpike towards Richmond, found the main part of the 
rebel cavalry in position near the Yellow Tavern, where a 
sharp fight ensued, in which Custer's brigade of Merritt's di- 
vision, and Wilson's division took the principal part. The 
rebels were quickly routed, losing three guns and a number 
of prisoners, besides General Stuart and J. B. Gordon mor~ 
tally wounded. 

After this action a demonstration was made in the direction 
of Richmond, but the works of that place were thought to be 
too strong and too strongly manned, to be attacked with a 
reasonable hope of success. Sheridan thei'efore halted his 
command till nearly midnight, at which time he resumed the 
march, Wilson in advance, for the purpose of penetrating be- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 215 

tween the Chickahomlny and the Richmond' defences to Fair 
Oaks and thence to the James Eiver. The marching col- 
umns were undisturbed except by the bursting of an occa- 
sional torpedo, which the rebels had planted in the roads, till 
the advanced guard had reached the Mechanicsville pike, 
where a halt was called and the advanced division massed. 
This delay arose from the necessity of finding a new guide, 
and looking out the road which could be no longer seen on 
account of darkness ; but the halt had hardly been called when 
the heavy guns of the rebel works, not over two hundred 
yards distant opened upon the unsuspecting troopers, throw- 
ing them momentarily into considerable confusion. Wilson 
however, deployed both brigades of his division promptly, and 
drove the rebel skirmishers back into their works. Shortly 
afterwards daylight appeared and revealed the true situation 
of affairs, showing the rebel works resting upon the bluffs of 
the Chickahominy so closely as to preclude all idea of con- 
tinuing the march any farther towards Fair Oaks. By this 
time Gregg with the rear division had also been attacked. 
The whole command was now wedged in between the rebel 
works in front, and the swamps of the Chickahominy in rear. 
Sheridan, however, was not long in finding a way out. Or- 
dering Wilson and Gregg to hold their position at all hazards, 
he directed Merritt to force a crossing of the Chickahominy, 
driving away the rebel cavalry, and to repair the bridge 
which the rebels had destroyed a few days before. This was 
done in handsome style, after Custer had essayed a crossing 
and failed ; and although the rebel force continued to press 
Wilson and Gregg, the command was withdrawn without se- 
rious loss. The march was then resumed by the way of Pole 
Green Church to Gaines' Mill, where the entire corps en- 
camped for the night. The next day it recrossed the Chick- 
ahominy by fording, at the bottom bridges, and continued the 
march by the way of White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill, 
to Haxall's Landing, where Sheridan communicated with 
Butler at Bermuda Hundred. 

This raid was a success in one essential particular, leadmg 



216 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

to the victory at Yellow Tavern, which was complete, in so 
far as it put an end to the fancied superiority of the rebel 
cavalry. It was observed always afterwards that they could 
not make head successfully against the national horse, unless 
supported and re-enforced by infantry. Sheridan's troopers 
were correspondingly improved by their achievements. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

butler's movements ox the JAMES — DEFEAT AT DRURY'S BLUFF — 
SHUT UP AT BERMUDA HUNDRED — HE FAILS TO CARRY OUT A 
DECISIVE POLICY — SIGEL REPULSED AT NEW MARKET — HE RE- 
TREATS — IS RELIEVED BY HUNTER — HUNTER ASSUMES THE OFFEN- 
SIVE — HIS ENGAGEMENT AT PIEDMONT — ADVANCE TO LYNCHBURG 
— RETIRES BY THE LINE OF THE KANAWHA TO WHEELING — SUF- 
FERING OF HIS COMMAND — STAMPEDE OF HUNDRED-DAY MEN — 
hunter's MISTAKE— SHERIDAN ORDERED TOWARDS CHARLOTTES- 
VILLE AND GORDONSVILLE. 

An important part of Grant's plan of operations was the 
movement of Butler's column from Fortress Monroe. A con- 
siderable force hitherto engaged in profitless coastwise expe- 
ditions had been concentrated at that place under Gillmore 
and W. F. Smith, — the former commanding the Tenth,* and 
the latter the Eighteenth corps, — in all, not far from 30,000 
men. This force, with the exception of a small division of 
horse under Kautz, stationed at Norfolk and Portsmouth, 
was assembled at Yorktown and Gloucester Point. Butler 
was, therefore, in position to move by the Peninsular route 
directly upon Richmond, or to throw his force suddenly by 
transports to some convenient point on the James, threatening 
the rebel capital from the south side. The latter was the real 
plan in view, but with the intention of misleading the rebels, 
Butler on the 1st of May made a feint of striking from the 
York River as well as along the Peninsula. Kautz, with his 
mounted division, also moved forward from Suffolk. Hav- 

*The Tenth corps was composed of three divisions under Terry, Ames and 
Turner ; the Eighteenth, of two divisions under Weitzel and Brooks, with a 
brigade of colored troops under Hinks. 



218 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

ing pushed a small force to within a few miles of Richmoncl, 
he withdrew rapidly and embarked his entire force on board 
the transports on the night of the 4th, and steamed down the 
York and up the James, convoyed by a fleet of gun-boats 
under Admiral Lee. The next day he landed detachments of 
his force at Wilson's wdiarf, Fort Powhattan, and the main 
body of his army at City Point and Bermuda Hundred, two 
miles above the mouth of the Appomattox. This point was 
selected as being susceptible of easy defense, and also affording 
a good base for operations against either Petersburg or Rich- 
mond as well as the railroad connecting them. The landing 
was made without resistance, and on the next day Smith 
moved out towards the Petersburg and Eichmond road, but 
failed to reach it. On the 7th he was re-enforced by a part 
of Gillmore's corps, struck the railroad near Walthall Junc- 
tion, and immediately began the work of destruction, pushing 
towards Petersburg. During these operations he encountered 
and drove back the rebels under D. 11. Hill, and made rapid 
progress in the task assigned to him. While this was going 
on, Butler, with the rest of his troops, was engaged in estab- 
lishing a strong defensive line across the neck at Bermuda 
Hundred, and in concentrating the detachments of his com- 
mand. About this time he heard of Lee's retrograde move- 
ment towards Richmond, closely pursued by the Army of the 
Potomac ; he therefore withdrew Smith who had reached 
Swift Creek, three miles from Petersburg, concentrated his 
available force on the railroad, and turned his face towards 
Richmond, with the intention of getting there before Grant. 
Pushing northward he drove the rebel force of observation 
beyond Proctor's Creek, into their entrenched position' near 
Drury's Bluff, and by the 15th, made his arrangements to as- 
sault and drive them from that fortification. 

But in the meantime the Richmond authorities were not 
idle. As soon as Butler's movement had developed itself, 
they summoned Beauregard from Charleston with all the 
troops that could be gathered in Georgia, and North and 
South Carolina. This force, together with the local militia 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 219 

and the garrison of Richmond, amounted to something like 
20,000 men ; and instead of being divided by the operations 
against the railroad as had been supposed, they were assem- 
bled in the works extending from the railroad to Drury's 
Bluff. On the morning of the 16th of May, Beauregard as- 
sumed the offensive and under cover of a heavy fog made a 
general attack upon Butler's long and attenuated line. The 
rebel commander had left Whiting's division in the neighbor- 
hood of Petersburg, and his plan was for this division to ad- 
vance and seize Butler's line of retreat, while the main force 
interposed itself between his right flank and the James River. 
The attack was made with unusual vigor, and being ftivored 
by the darkness of the morning was at first almost entirely 
successful. Smith's right brigade under Heckman was swept 
away, and routed; but just at this juncture General Ames 
threw forward three regiments of his division, which had been 
placed in reserve to support Smith, and happily succeeded in 
checking the advancing rebels just as they were about to seize 
the road to Bermuda Hundred. While this turning move- 
ment was in progress Beauregard attacked Weitzel's and 
Brook's divisions of Smith's corps, with great fury, but was 
easily repulsed. 

This fortunate result was partially due to the ingenuity of 
General Smith, who had made an entanglement of telegraph 
wire, covering a part of his front. Being checked cm all sides, 
the advantage of Beauregard's offensive was lost, but he now 
determined to renew his turning movement against the Union 
right, by marching to the southward, by a route nearer to the 
James. This caused Smith to fall back so as to protect the 
trains and to cover the roads leading to the depots at Bermuda 
Hundred. His front was too much extended already for a 
defensive battle and an offensive one with such a leader as 
Butler, was then out of the question. Glllmore's position 
was not seriously attacked. His right brigade felt the shock 
of the assault against Smith, but the left of his line did not 
fire a shot. This may have been due to the darkness of the 
day which rendered it impossible to discover the rebel move- 



220 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

ments, and also to the inexplicable tardiness on the part of 
Whiting. Had Butler thrown Gillmore forward promptly 
against the rebel right, it must have relieved the pressure 
against Smith, and enabled the army to hold its position if 
not to inflict an overwhelming defeat upon the rebels. But 
instead of doing this, he caused Gillmore to conform to Smith's 
retrograde movement and finally allowed himself to be shut 
up in the cul de sac at Bermuda Hundred, not to emerge 
from there again permanently for an entire year. 

It was a great misfortune to the national cause, that Butler 
did not pursue a vigorous and determined policy, immediately 
after landing his army on the south side of the James ; but he 
seems to have had no perception of the strategic importance 
of his operations, or of the relative value of the points before 
him. He should have marched with all possible celerity upon 
Petersburg with his entire force, excej^t the few men required 
to mark out and occupy the lines of defense at Bermuda 
Hundred or City Point ; but instead of doing this he seems 
to have had no well defined plan. He neither marched rap- 
idly nor fought vigorously in any direction, and hence did 
no serious damage to the enemy. It is claimed as a justifi- 
cation of his course, that his orders from Grant were vague, 
and uncertain in their tenor, but this is a poor excuse. Grant 
indicated his wishes in general terms, told him to fortify at 
Bermuda Hundred, to break up railroads, and to make Rich- 
mond the objective point of his campaign, but the details of 
the various operations necessary, Avere left entirely to Butler 
and his able suboi'dinates. Even if these details, as they 
were afterwards developed, had been specifically sanctioned by 
the Lleutenant-Gcncral, Butler would not have been justified ; 
for being on the ground in person and fully informed of the 
rebel movements, it was his duty to arrange his details to suit 
the actual condition of affairs. Whatever may have been the 
precise import of Grant's written and verbal instructions, 
there seems to have been little doubt as to his expectations, 
and there is less as to what should have been done. The 
convictions of most sensible persons upon the merits of this 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 221 

question are fixed, a-iid no amount of vagueness In the official 
directions, can justify Butler for failing to thoroughly break 
the railroads, scatter the inferior forces of Beauregard, and 
secure Petersburg at least. 

The small army in West Virginia, formed the second co-op- 
erating column, in aid of Grant's general movement with the 
Army of the Potomac. Sigel divided it into two detach- 
ments, one composed of a division of Infantry and Averill's 
cavalry operating through the valley of the Kanawha against 
the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad, while the other 
under Sigel's immediate command, marched up the Shenan- 
doah towards Staunton and Lynchburg. These movements 
began on the 1st of May, but on the 15th, Sigel encountered 
the rebels under Breckenridge at New Market, and after a 
severe engagement with considerable loss, was repulsed, and 
fell back beyond Cedar Creek. He was at once relieved by 
that zealous and gallant, though not fortunate officer. General 
Hunter, who assumed the offiinslve without delay. Hunter 
was instructed to march upon Staunton, and after capturing 
that place and breaking up the railroad towards Charlottes- 
ville, to move rapidly to Lynchburg. He encountered the 
rebels at Piedmont, on the 6th of June, and after a severe 
engagement of four or five hours, drove them from the field, 
capturing 1500 prisoners and 3 field guns. On the 8th, 
Hunter formed a junction with Crook and Averlll at Staun- 
ton, and then directed his march by the way of Lexington 
towards Lynchburg, without encountering any decided resist- 
ance, and made his arrangements for an attack ; but mean- 
while the Richmond authorities had become alarmed for the 
safety of that important place, and directed Lee tc datach a 
force for its defense. These troops had begun to arrive be- 
fore Hunter reached the neighborhood of the city, and as his 
ammunition was nearly exhausted, he determined not to 
hazard an attack, but to retire by the line of the Kanawha, 
choosing this line because he deemed It safe from interruption 
by a force moving from Richmond by the way of Charlottes- 
ville, and also for the reason that it promised to bring him to 



222 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

supplies in a much shorter time. A depot of military stores 
had been left by Crook at Charlestown, a few days before, 
under charge of two regiments of hundred day men, but un- 
fortunately for Hunter these troops allowed themselves to be 
stampeded by guerrillas, and after burning most of the stores 
removed the remainder farther down the river. 

The line of march, lying in the desolate mountain region of 
West Virginia, Hunter found great difficulty in sustaining the 
strength and resolution of his forces, but after a wearisome 
march and much suffering, he reached the Ohio River at 
Wheeling, whence he returned to Martinsburg by rail. He 
committed a grave mistake in retreating by such a circuitous 
and eccentric line ; for it left the entire Shenandoah Valley 
open to rebel incursions, and ultimately enabled Early to cross 
the Potomac and threaten Washington. Grrant's main object 
in sending him towards Lynchburg was to obtain possession 
of the railroads at that point, and to cut off the supplies of 
grain and meat drawn from South-west Virginia for the sup- 
port of the troops defending the rebel capital. After the 
Army of the Potomac had crossed the James, Grant detached 
Sheridan with Gregg's and Torbert's divisions to march 
through the country by the way of Charlottesville, for the 
purpose of completing the destruction of all the railroad lines 
north of Richmond, and then to join Hunter somewhere be- 
tween Staunton and Petersburg. These operations, it was 
hoped, would render it impossible for Lee to make an offen- 
sive return towards Washington with a large force, but Sheri- 
dan did not succeed in getting farther than Trevillian Station 
where he had a bloody and obstinate battle with the rebel 
cavalry under Hampton. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

FORWARD — THE UNION ARMY AT THE NORTH ANNA — LEE IN POSITION 
— WARREN CROSSES AT JERICHO — HANCOCK CAPTURES COUNTY 
BRIDGE — THREE CORPS ACROSS THE RIVER — THE REBEL POSITION 
IMPREGNABLE — PREPARING FOR A NEW MOVEMENT — SHERIDAN 
REJOINS THE ARMY — WILSON'S DEMONSTRATIONS — NEW TURNING 
MOVEMENT TO THE PAMUNKY — DETAILS OF THE OPERATION — LEE'S 
LINE — SHERIDAN DEFEATS THE REBEL CAVALRY AT HAWES' SHOP — 
. GRANT MOVES INTO POSITION — INTRODUCTORY ENGAGEMENTS — P0-. 
SITION OF THE CONTENDING ARMIES NEAR THE TOLOPOTOMY — ■ 
THE ATTACK— THE FAILURE— GRANT'S PRACTICE IN REGARD TO 
DETAILS — OBSERVATIONS. 

In pursuance of his determination to fight it out on that 
line, Grant continued his march towards Richmond, in the 
hepe of catching Lee in a disadvantageous position, and deal- 
ing him a crushing blow. Flanking operations in the pres- 
ence of the enemy are usually regarded as being extremely 
hazardous, affording him good and frequent opportunity for 
sudden and effective return ; but in the case of the southward 
march of the Army of the Potomac from Spottsylvania, so 
great were the skill and precision of every movement, that 
Lee made no effort to interfere ; but holding high ground 
which covered the direct road to Richmond, and seeing all 
that was done, he hastened southw^ard also, and took up a 
strong position on the south side of the North Anna. Grant, 
on the other hand, had to make a considerable detour, and to 
move by poor and devious roads, so that when he reached the 
North Anna near the railroad crossing, on the 23d of May, 
he found his wily antagonist already in position, covering the 
railroad junction, and ready to dispute his farther progress. 



224 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

The prospect seemed uninviting enough, but Grant was not 
the person to take appearances for well-assured facts ; he 
therefore ordered Warren, whose corps was on the right, to 
cross the river at Jericho, and to try the enemy's position. 
The crossing was made in handsome style, and the rebels 
were driven back nearly to the Virginia Central Eailroad. 
Warren's corps was formed as follows : Cutler on the right, 
Griffin in the center, and Crawford on the laft. 

Lee at once threw forward the divisions of Wilcox and 
Heth to drive Warren into the river, but they were repulsed 
with heavy loss by Griffin. The rebel commander then de- 
tached three brigades under Brown for the purpose of assail- 
ing the right flank of Warren's line. Marching rapidly 
along the railroad till a sufficient distance had been gained. 
Brown moved his command by the right flank, fiilling upon 
Cutler, not yet fairly in position, swept his left back, and 
threw the entire division into confusion. Griffin became 
asrain involved, and for a few minutes was in considerable 
jeopardy. But at this critical juncture, the Eighty-third 
Pennsylvania, Lieutenant-Colonel McCoy commanding, has- 
tening forward to fill the gap in the line, made an effijctive 
charge, striking Brown's regiments in flank, and driving them 
rapidly back. Eeassured by this favorable turn in the prog- 
ress of the contest, the lines of the shaken divisions were 
soon re-established, and the rebels completely driven off, leav- 
ing 1,000 prisoners in Warren's possession. His lines were 
rapidly intrenched, and rendered safe against all direct at- 
tacks. Hancock struck the river at the County Bridge, a 
mile west of the railroad crossing ; but the rebels had con- 
structed a tete-de-pont covering this bridge, overlooked by a 
heavy line of entrenchments on the south side of the river, 
and it was necessary to capture these works in order to effect 
a passage. Birney's division of the Second corps was charged 
with this perilous duty, and about an hour before sundown, 
under the cover of a heavy fire from the corps of artillery 
placed in position under Colonel Tidball, the assault waa 
made, the brigades of Egan and Pierce bearing the brunt of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 225 

the fight. Advancing at a double-quick, those gallant veter- 
ans carried the bridge head in the handsomest manner, cap- 
turing some 30 or 40 prisoners, who were left in the trench 
by their flying companions. Early the next morning the 
Second corps pushed across the bridge and took up a position 
on the south side of the river the rebels having drawn back 
their line during the night. 

The Sixth corps crossed at Jericho. Thus three corps were 
safely on the south side confronting Lee once more ; but it 
was soon discovered that they could not communicate with 
each other, on account of a strong salient in the rebel lines 
resting on the bank of the river between the two points of 
passage. It seems that Lee had formed the left half of his 
army across the neck of land lying between Little Eiver and 
the North Anna, the extreme left resting on the former, and 
the center on the latter, while the right wing was thrown 
back at an obtuse angle with the left. In order to establish 
communication between the right and lef" wings of the Army 
of the Potomac, Grant ordered Burnsidc to make a crossing 
between the points at which Warren and Hancock had 
crossed, but this order could not be carried out. Critten- 
den's division, which was charged with its execution, was 
repulsed with heavy loss ; while Crawford's division, which 
made a demonstration from Warren's front towards the new 
point of crossing, was thrust back upon the river and com- 
pelled to return to its works, narrowly escaping a serious 
disaster. In spite of all that could be done, Lee succeeded 
in maintaining his center in its salient position, and therefore 
in keeping the Army of the Potomac so divided as to render 
it incapable of advancing except at the imminent risk of 
having either wing overwhelmed before it could receive succor 
from the other. Grant examined the situation with great 
care, but the rebel position was found to be impregnable ; he 
therefore did not hesitate to throw away the advantage 
which he had already gained by his brilliant double passage 
of the river, and issued orders for the army to withdraw to 
the north side preparatory to a new turning movement. 
15 



226 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

In the meantime, Sheridan with the cavalry had rejoined 
the Army of the Potomac, having marched northward by the 
way of the White House and Aylett's, on the Mattapony. 
On the 25th, Wilson's division crossed the North Anna at 
Jericho, and made a demonstration of crossing Little River 
on the extreme right of the army ; but that stream was found 
impassable. He was, however, directed to make a vigorous 
show of crossing, and did so, with the view of attracting Lee's 
attention in that direction while the army was withdrawing 
in another. Torbert's and Gregg's divisions, supported by 
RusselFs division of the Sixth corps, the next day moved 
down the North Anna, for the purpose of seizing the cross- 
ings of the Pamunky. Torbert was sent to Taylor's Ford 
with orders to make a demonstration of crossing there till 
after dark. Gregg was ordered to Littlepage's Ford, with 
similar instructions. After leaving detachments at these fords 
to keep up the feint, both divisions were to march rapidly 
under cover of darl;aess to the ford at Hanovertown, and to 
cross without delay. These movements were admirably and 
rapidly executed, and early on the morning of the 27th, Tor- 
bert's leading brigade forced a passage, driving back a strong 
cavalry picket and capturing some 30 or 40 prisoners. Tor- 
bert followed quickly with the rest of the division, driving 
Gordon's cavalry brigade from Hanovertown and pursuing 
it to Cramp's Creek. Gregg joined Torbert at this place, and 
Russell encamped near the crossing of the river, covering all 
approaches to it. By this skillful and rapid handling of the 
cavalry, Grant completely masked his plans till their execu- 
tion had been made certain. On the night of the 26th the 
Second, Fifth and Sixth corps retired silently to the north 
side of the river, by different bridges, and the next day headed 
towards the new crossing of the Pamunky, reaching and 
crossing that stream without molestation or difficulty. The 
Sixth corps led the van, followed closely by the Fifth, Ninth 
and Second corps in their order, — the whole covered in flank 
and rear by the march of Wilson's horse. The Second corps, 
however, crossed four miles further up the rivers Thus by 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 227 

the night of the 27th, the whole army stood intact on the 
south side of the Pamunky. This stream is made by the 
union of the North and South Anna, and with the Mattapony 
forms the York, at the head of which is situated West Point, 
now become the base of supphes. 

It will be seen that by this single passage, Grant compelled 
Lee to pass two rivers, the last remaining barriers of impor- 
tance which obstructed the march of the Union soldiers. 
"While the Army of the Potomac was on the North Anna, its 
base was shifted from Fredericksburg to Port Royal, on the 
Rappahannock. Those who have doubted Grant's capacity 
to maneuver should study carefully the details of the. com- 
binations just related. Nothing could have been more admir- 
able than the regularity with which the different subdivisions 
of the army, performed the marches assigned them, nor more 
profound than the judgment displayed by the Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral in the calculations and instructions upon which these 
marches were based. As a matter of course, Lee was not 
long kept in ignorance of Grant's real designs, and having 
the inside line, less than half as long as the detour made by 
the Army of the Potomac, It was not remarkable that he 
should again interpose himself between the invaders and the 
Chickahominy, covering the rebel capital. His line of battle 
Avas formed facing north-east, and was far enough advanced 
to cover the railroads running northward from Richmond. 
Grant was therefore compelled to force him back before try- 
ing to pass the Chickahominy. With this object in view, 
Sheridan was pushed out towards Hawes' shop, where, on 
the afternoon of the 28th, he encountered the rebel cavalry 
under Hampton, the successor of Stuart. A long and se- 
verely-contested battle ensued in which the dismounted troop- 
ers of Davies, Gregg and Custer took the principal part. 
Sheridan succeeded in holding the junction of the roads for 
which he had fought, and in driving the rebels from the field 
with a loss of over 800 men killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
Grant threw forward the army at once, and assumed a posi- 
tion in front of that place. Lee was therefore compelled to 



228 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

move rearward by the right flank, taking up a new line across 
the head of the Tolopotomy, though his exact position was 
not known. .Strong reconnoissances were made in all direc- 
tions, and a gradual tendency of the enemy towards the left 
was manifested. On the 29th of May, Hardin's reserve bri- 
gade of Crawford's division was struck in flank at Bethesda 
Church, by Rhodes' division of Ewell's corps, and driven back 
to the Shady Grove road. 

At this place new troops were brought into action, in turn 
driving the rebels back, and enabling Warren to establish 
his corps firmly on the Mechanicsville road. Hancock, ad- 
vancing towards Hanover Court House, was checked at the 
Tolopotomy, a swampy and difficult stream emptying into 
the Pamunky, and behind which the enemy were too strongly 
posted to be successfully assailed. Hancock was supported 
by Burnside on his left and Wright on his right ; and al- 
though there was, of necessity, a good deal of heavy skir- 
mishing, it was evident that the rebel position was too strong 
to warrant a battle at that place. The only course open to 
Grant was to prolong his line in the direction of Cold Har- 
bor, which Sheridan had already occupied. The Sixth corps 
was therefore withdrawn from the right, and directed to 
move by the rear of the army to that place. Marching 
nearly all night, it arrived at the designated point early on 
the morning of June 1st, and was shortly afterwards joined 
by General W. F. Smith, with four small divisions from the 
Tenth and Eighteent'h corps, which Grant had detached from 
Butler at Bermuda Hundred, and brought around by steamer 
to the White House. These troops took position on the right 
of the Sixth corps, and were at once ordered forward by 
Meade to break the enemy's line in their front, and to force a 
crossing of the Chickahominy. These orders were given 
under the impression that they could be executed before Lee 
could interpose his infantry to counteract it ; but he had per- 
ceived the withdrawal of the Sixth corps, and, suspecting 
where it would turn up, had detached Longstreet's corps 
from the rebel left, and by a similar march threw it to his 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 229 

extreme right. Smith and Wright were therefore unable to 
carry out their orders literally, but after a careful and judi- 
cious disposition of their force, late in the afternoon they 
made a spirited advance, capturing the first line of rifle-trench, 
already prepared by the rebels, together with 600 or 700 
prisoners. They put forth a vigorous and determined effort 
to carry the second, and only desisted after they had lost 
nearly 2,000 men, and were forced to acknowledge the task 
impracticable. Had it been possible to make their assault 
early in the forenoon, better results might have been obtained ; 
but both Smith's and AV right's men were much jaded, and 
could not be brought into action sooner. 

Grant's aversion to sacrificing the lives of his men was 
well exemplified when he declined to attack Lee's position on 
the North Anna ; he would gladly have done so again, had 
he been able to find any alternative, but it was plain to the 
newest lieutenant in the army, that nothing but hard fight- 
ing could secure the advantages which were requisite at Cold 
Harbor. The losses in Smith's and Wright's corps in these 
preliminary essays were heavy ; but the battle secured us a 
firm hold upon a position, without which the army could 
hardly have carried out the plan formed for it. On the night 
after this introductory engagement, Hancock, who now lield 
the extreme right, was directed to march by the left flank 
and take post on the left of the Sixth corps. The right of 
Warren's corps still continued near Bethesda Church, while 
his left was extended well towards Smith's right, and Burn- 
side was ordered to withdraw from the front line and mass 
in rear of Warren. While executing this movement on the 
afternoon of June 2d, the enemy followed him up, captured a 
number of his skirmishers, and struck the left of Warren's 
line, arresting its extension towards Cold Harbor, and com- 
peUing him to assume a more compact formation, Bartlett's 
brigade was thrown forward promptly and checked the hostile 
advance, after which new dispositions were ordered. Before 
they were carried into eflfect, Wilson was directed to cross the 
Tolopotomy, drive the rebel cavalry from Hawes' shop, and 



230 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

then recross the Tolopotomy near its head, striking the rebel 
infantry in the rear. The movements were made with de- 
spatch and success, resuhing in a sharp fight at Hawes' shop, 
in which Colonel Preston, of the First Vermont cavalry, was 
killed, after he had driven the rebels from their works. Just 
at sunset the rebel left and rear were attacked under cover 
of the horse artillery, at Via's house, and compelled to relin- 
quish their advanced position in front of Burnside, with the 
loss of some prisoners. 

On the 3d of June, the two armies held positions nearly 
similar to those held by Porter's corps, and Jackson's turning 
column on the day of the battle of Gaines' Mill, though in 
the contest about to be opened the rebels were this time to be 
assailed, instead of assailing. Grant's troops were well in 
hand. Sheridan, with Gregg and Torbert, held the left and 
rear, while Wilson held the extreme right of our line. The 
situation of the latter had been one of extreme danger, for 
soon after crossing the Pamunky, which he did immediately 
after the infantry had all crossed, he was sent to the extreme 
right, defeating the rebel cavalry under W. H. F. Lee, in a 
night fight at Hanover Court House, and then proceeding to 
break up the two railroads running North, and to burn the 
bridges over the South Anna. This work was promptly and 
efiScIently done, but while engaged In covering it, Mcintosh's 
brigade was attacked by three brigades of cavalry at Ashland 
Station, and after a desperate fight was compelled to retire. 
Just at this juncture,, Wilson fell upon the rebel rear with 
the First Vermont cavalry, and succeeded in extricating his 
command from its perilous strait. Having accomplished the 
task assigned him, he withdrew through Hanover Court 
House, and rejoined the army, beyond the Tolopotomy, after 
three days of ceaseless fighting, marching and hard labor, in 
the destruction of railroads and bridges, for the purpose of 
isolating the rebel capital. 

Lee had disposed of his army about New Cold Harbor, 
covering the approaches of PIchmond, while Grant confronted 
him with lines encircling Old Cold Harbor. The positions 






LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 231 

occupied by both were naturally strong for a defensive battle, 
but they had been strengthened immensely by slashings and 
rifle-trench. The Union forces were arranged in the followino- 
order : — Hancock's corps on the extreme left, resting on the 
road to Despatch Station ; then Wright, then Smith's divis- 
ion, then Warren, and finally Buruside. Sheridan, with two 
divisions of horse, was watching the lower crossing of the 
Chickahominy and covering the base of supplies at the White 
House, while Wilson was watching the right. Grant had 
ordered the attack to be made by corps, and to begin at half- 
past four o'clock on the morning of June 3d. Every officer 
and man seemed to realize the necessity of promptitude, and 
within a few minutes of the time specified, the entire army 
was bearing its tattered standards towards the rebel lines. 
Silently and devotedly it rushed forward into the jaws of 
death, against the bristling and well-manned intrenchments. 
Every corps commander had been left to select his own point 
of attack, and to form his divisions as circumstances might 
determine. It was entirely impossible for Grant to regulate 
such details for so vast an army, even had he been so minded ; 
his staff being too small to gather the specific information 
which must have been gained before specific orders could be 
made. Enough was known through the reports of subordi- 
nates to assure him that Lee had used the ground to the best 
advantage ; but where the lines were the weakest could not 
be determined, except by actual attack. The country being 
generally level, and only slightly undulating, the sharpest eye 
could perceive through the woods and fields, nothing but faint 
lines of rifle-trench, bristling with rebel bayonets, and topped 
by the dirty gray of rebel uniforms. The order of battle, was 
therefore simple : a general attack by each corps, but there 
was nothing in this order forbidding, limiting, or in any way 
discouraging the different subordinates. They were left en- 
tirely free, as before stated, to form their columns, and to 
direct them according to their own judgment. 

Hancock, holding the extreme left, sent Barlow and Gib- 
bon forward, supporting them with Blrney. The advance 



232 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

was made in handsome style, and resulted in driving the 
rebels from a sunken road into their works, from which they 
were also driven, leaving several hundred prisoners and three 
guns in the hands of the victors. Barlow pressed his ad- 
vantage, turning the captured guns upon the enemy, but not 
being promptly supported by Birney, he was driven back by 
the rallying rebels, and after a determined effort to hold what 
he had captured, was finally compelled to abandon the rebel 
works, though he managed to hold on and entrench himself 
just outside of them. Gibbon had advanced at the same 
time with Barlow, but the 'coherence of his attack was broken 
by a swamp, cutting his division into unequal fragments, 
neither of which was strong enough to produce a decided im- 
pression, though several regiments reached the enemy's works 
and planted their colors on them. In spite of the great dis- 
advantages under which they labored, Gibbon's men behaved 
with great gallantry. Many of his best officers, including 
Colonels McjNIahon, Porter, Morris, McKeen, and Haskel, 
were killed ; while General Tyler was wounded. AVright 
and Smith advanced at the same time ; but having already 
had a taste of what they might expect in a death-grapple 
with the defenders of the hostile entrenchments, they did not 
push their attack with such decided vigor as Hancock. They 
were readily repulsed, loosing very heavily, and gaining 
nothing in return. 

Warren, holding a long thin line, did not feel himself strong 
enough to risk a concentrated attack, and knowing that one 
with thinly scattered battalions could not possibly win, main- 
tained a silent defensive, with everything except his artillery. 
Burnside did not advance at the designated hour, but towards 
noon he threw forward his right flank, and succeeded in reach- 
ing a position from which the rebel left could be advantage- 
ously assailed, but the action had already been decided against 
us. It did not last an hour all told, but in this brief space of 
time the loss was very heavy. Notwithstanding this severe 
intimation of the hopelessness of the task, later in the day 
Meade sent orders to each corps commander to renew the at- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 233 

tack without reference to the troops on his right or left. Tho 
order was issued through these officers to their subordinates, 
and from them descended through the usual channels to the 
troops, but it was silently disobeyed. The morning's work 
had convinced the army that it was hopeless to tempt fortune 
further in that direction. 

Grant has been severely criticised for the details of this 
battle, and it is possible that it should not have been fought 
at all ; but it ought to be remembered that Grant could give 
only general directions, and that It was Meade's special func- 
tion to see that the actual dispositions of the troops were 
made in such a manner as to secure the greatest possible 
advantage In direction as well as in tactical execution, while 
It was the privilege and duty of each corps commander, upon 
that occasion as well as upon all others, to use his discretion 
in forming his troops for attack, and in selecting or at least 
suggesting that point in his own front, upon which his efforts 
should be directed. It seems to be well established, however, 
that Meade gave his orders in the same general terras as they 
were couched in when they reached him, and finally ordered 
the different corps commanders to attack without regard to 
each other. It was not in the character of General Grant, 
any more than in the necessities of the case, that he should 
depart from his well established and judicious practice In such 
matters ; nor was it possible for him to become acquainted so 
thoroughly with the varied features of the extended battle- 
field as to be able to designate to the subordinate commanders 
the points upon which they should move. 

It does not appear from any oflflcial report or statement yet 
published, that either Meade or any of the corps commanders, 
ever proposed a meritorious plan of attack or pointed out a 
weak place in the enemy's line, without being encouraged by 
the Lieutenant-General to avail himself of It. Neither does it 
appear In any official paper, or in any authentic record of 
military events that General Grant ever ordered an assault or 
permitted one, either against troops In the open field, or be- 
hind breastworks. In opposition to the expressed judgment of 



234 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Meade or any one of his corps commanders. Those -vvho 
know him best are well aware of the fact that while he be- 
lieves celerity and hard fighting to be essential elements in 
warfare, there is no commander more opposed to hammering 
without an object, or whose humane heart is more deeply af- 
flicted by the unnecessary effusion' of blood. On the other 
hand it would be injustice to him and an outrage upon com- 
mon sense to assert that he is a believer in partial or irreso- 
lute measures. He knows as well as any man that war can 
not be made affectionately ; nor can it be made successfully, 
without loss of human Hfe. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

grant's plan of operation — SHERIDAN SENT TO BREAK THE VIR- 
GINIA CENTRAL RAILROAD, AND TO JOIN HUNTER — BATTLE OF 
TREVILLIAN STATION — GILLMORE'S MOVEMENT AGAINST PETERS- 
BURG — SMITH SENT TO CITY POINT — THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 
MOVES TO THE LEFT — CROSSES THE CHICKAHOMINY— CAVALRY 
AFFAIR AT WHITE OAK SWAMP AND RIDDLE'S SHOP — LEE DECEIVED 
— PONTOON BRIDGE ACROSS THE JAMES — SMITH SENT TO CAPTURE 
PETERSBURG — HE CARRIES THE OUTER LINE OF WORKS — PETERS- 
BURG RE-ENFORCED — FURTHER PROGRESS IMPOSSIBLE — THE ARMY 
ACROSS THE JAMES — HANCOCK JOINS SMITH — RENEWAL OF THE 
ASSAULT — OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS. 

The battle of Cold Harbor demonstrated the impractica- 
bility of forcing Lee to give battle north of Richmond, be- 
yond the cover of entrenchments, and also that he could not 
be dislodged by direct attack from his well chosen position 
in front of the Chickahominy. There remained nothing for 
Grant to do, but to resort to a siege, or to cross the Chick- 
ahominy and. the James, and place his army where it would 
break the lines connecting the rebel capital with the South, 
and thus isolate it completely from the confederacy. In this 
case Lee would be compelled to abandon Richmond or to give 
battle at a great disadvantage. This plan, it will be observed, 
involved the necessity of uncovering Washington, with the 
main body of the army, but the principal danger which was 
originally apprehended in such an event was necessarily re- 
moved by the proximity of the national army to the rebel 
capital. In other words. Grant in his overland campaign 
had effectually protected the national capital, by keeping it 
constantly behind him, and the enemy constantly engaged. 
There was no time during the entire month spent in march- 



236 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

ing and fighting from the Rapidan to the Chlckahominy at 
which Lee could have afforded to make any detachments 
whatever ; but had Grant chosen to go to the James Kiver or 
to the lower Chesapeake by water, Lee would have had a 
rare opportunity for striking a telling blow in the direction of 
the Potomac. Moreover, Grant was now in a position to gain 
all the advantages that could have been gained at any previ- 
ous time by operating south of the James, and from his prox- 
imity to Richmond and the vital lines of supply upon which 
Lee had to depend, it was morally certain that Lee would 
find a greater need than ever of keeping his forces concen- 
trated. Should he lose either the supply lines or the city, his 
army would be in great jeopardy, while the movement of a 
detachment to threaten Washington could be readily coun- 
teracted by a detachment from the Army of the Potomac for 
its defence. 

In connection with this discussion, it should also be re- 
membered that Lee was so close to the defences of Richmond 
that it was impossible, by any flank movement, to interpose 
between him and the city. General Grant says : 

" I was still in a condition to either move by his left flank and to in- 
vest Richmond from the north side, or continue my move by his right 
flank to the south side of the James. While the former might have been 
better as a covering for AVashington, yet a full survey of all the ground 
satisfied me that it would be impracticable to hold a line north and east 
of Richmond that would protect the Fredericksburg Railroad— a long, 
vulnerable line, which would exhaust much of our strength to guard, and 
that would have to be protected to supply the army, and would leave 
open to the enemy all his lines of communication on the south side of the 
James. My idea from the start, had been to beat Lee's armij north of Rich- 
mond if possible. Then, after destroying his lines of communication north 
of the James River, to transfer the army to the south side and besiege Lee in 
Richmond, or follow him south if he should retreat. After the battle of the 
Wilderness, it was evident that the enemy deemed it of the first im- 
portance to run no risks with the army he then had. He acted purely 
on the defensive behind breastworks, or feebly on the offensive imme- 
diately in front of them, and when in case of repulse, he could easily 
retire behind them. Without a greater sacrifice of life than I was will- 
ing to make, all could not be accomplished that I had designed north 
of Riclmiond. I therefore determined to continue to hold substantially 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 237 

the ground we then occupied, taking advantage of any favorable cir- 
cumstances that might present themselves, until cavalry could be 
sent to Charlottesville and Gordonsville to effectually break wp the 
railroad connection between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley 
and Lynchburg ; and, when the cavalry got well off, to move the 
army to the south side of the James River, by the enemy's right 
flank, when I felt I could cut off all his sources of supplies except 
by canal." 

In pursuance of this plan, Sheridan proceeded on the 7th 
of June, with the divisions of Torbert and Gregg to Char- 
lottesville, for the purpose of cutting the Virginia Central 
Eailroad, and meeting at that place the forces under Hunter, 
with whom he was expected to return to the Army of the 
Potomac. * It was also anticipated that this movement would 
cause Lee to detach his cavalry, and thereby reduce his power 
to prevent the passage of the Chickahomlny and James by 
( the Army of the Potomac. This expectation was fully real- 
ized ; for when Sheridan's advance under Torbert arrived at 
Trevillian's Station on the 11th, It met Hampton's division of 
cavalry, while Gregg encountered Fltzhugh Lee's division on 
the Louisa Court House road. A series of brilliant maneu- 
vers and sharp combats ensued. In which Sheridan captured 
about 500 prisoners ; but hearing that Hunter had passed on 
towards Lynchburg without turning towards Charlottesville ; 
that Ewell was marching towards the same place, and that 
Breckenridge had gone to Gordonsville with a considerable 
force, Sheridan gave up the attempt to join the national force 
in the valley, and decided to return. On the 12th, while 
Gregg was tearing up railroads, Torbert was attacked by a 
strong force of the enemy, with whom he was hotly engaged 
nearly all day. By this time Sheridan had become encum- 
bered with a large number of wounded and prisoners, and 
had expended most of his ammunition, and therefore set out 
to return to the army, making a detour through Spottsyl- 
vanla, Walkerton, and King and Queen Court House to the 
White House. 

In the interval, by Grant's directions, BiUler sent a force of 
the infantry and cavalry under Gillmore and Kautz, from Ber- 



238 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 

muda Hundred, with orders to capture Petersburg if possible 
and to break up the railroads and bridges crossing the Ap- 
pomattox. Kautz moving rapidly and acting with commend- 
able boldness, drove back the local militia, captured the works 
on the south side and reached the suburbs of the town, but 
encountering sharp resistance from better troops, he was soon 
driven out. Gillmore found the works on his side very strong, 
and thinking it useless to attack them with so small a force, he 
decided not to do so, and returned to Bermuda Hundred. 
Grant attaching great importance to the possession of Peters- 
burg, had sent Smith's troops to the White House, and thence 
rapidly to City Point by steam transports. The express pur- 
pose of this movement was to concentrate a sufficient force 
under Butler, to render the capture of Petersburg a matter 
of certainty before the enemy, divining his- intention, could 
re-enforce the place sufficiently to resist him. "While this* 
concentration was in progress, Grant had perfected arrange- 
ments for the passage of the Chickahominy and the James. 

Immediately after the battle of Cold Harbor, the Ninth 
corps was withdrawn from its place on the extreme right of 
the line, and put into position between Warren and Smith. 
Oh the next day the Fifth corps was withdrawn, and massed 
in rear of the works, leaving the Ninth corps again on the 
right. The Second corps then extended itself towards the 
Chickahominy, while the Fifth corps was a short time after- 
wards posted on the extreme left, extending that flank to 
Despatch Station, on the York River Railroad. Sheridan 
having been detached, as before related, Wilson was ordered 
to send one brigade of his division to picket the lower Chick- 
ahominy. By these gradual extensions of the different corps 
towards the left, the army was brought into position near the 
lower crossings of the Chickahominy, and by the night of the 
12th of June, everything was in readiness to push forward in 
quest of better fortune than had yet cheered the gallant but 
sorely tried veterans. Wilson, with Chapman's brigade, forced 
a passage at Long Bridge ; under cover of darkness, the dis- 
mounted troopers struggled through the swamps, clambered 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 239 

over drift-logs, and finally crossed the stream by using the 
limbs of the overlapping trees as a bridge. As soon as the 
leading detachment had gained a footing on the west side of 
the stream, the rebel force of observation fled. The pontoon 
bridge was rapidly laid, and shortly after midnight the bri- 
gade of troopers had all crossed and pushed out towards 
Richmond by the road striking White Oak Swamp, followed 
closely by Warren's corps. 

At dawn the rebel cavalry was encountered in some force, 
but by eight o'clock Chapman had driven it across White Oak 
Swamp on the road leading from Malvern Hill towards the 
rear of Lee's old position in front of Cold Harbor. Craw- 
ford's division relieved the cavalry at this crossing, and thus 
enabled it to make a strong demonstration in the direction of 
Eichmond. A sharp fight ensued at Riddle's shop, near the 
junction of several roads all leading towards the city, and the 
enemy were routed. Meanwhile Hancock's and the rest of 
Warren's corps were filing rapidly across the bridge, and 
moving towards Wilcox's Landing on the James. Wright and 
Burnside following another route, crossed at Jones' Bridge 
and marched to Charles City ; while the trains crossed still 
farther down at Cole's Ferry. Mcintosh's brigade of cavalry 
which had been left on the right, interposed itself between 
the rear brigade and the rebel infantry, and by cease .ess activ- 
ity during two days and nights, succeeded in bringing up the 
last of our forces without the loss of a man. By the morn- 
mg of the loth, the entire army stood upon the north bank 
of the James, having marched fifty-five miles in two days. 
Lee was completely deceived in regard to Grant's inten- 
tions, for although he soon discovered the passage of the 
Chickahominy, he supposed a direct advance upon Rich- 
mond to be the object in view. He therefore moved 
out of his lines at Cold Harbor, and marched towards the 
junction of roads at Riddle's shop. His leading divisions 
reached there late in the afternoon of the 13th, and passing 
across Wilson's front, proceeded at once to entrench them- 
selves in a position covering the main approaches to the city. 



240 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

After nightfall, Crawford seeing evidence of activity on tlie 
part of the rebels, proceeded to rejoin his corps in the direc- 
tion of Harrison's Landing ; leaving Wilson to make head as 
best he might against the advance of the rebel infantry. After 
holding on till nearly midnight, the latter fell back as far as 
Nancy's shop. The next day the arrival of JVIcIntosh's bri- 
gade united his division, and enabled him to thoroughly patrol 
the country between White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill, 
and to make effective demonstrations upon the enemy. These 
feints and dashes secured the movements of the army and en- 
abled It to lay bridges and make all arrangements for the final 
passage to the south side of the James before Lee had fully 
discovered Its intentions. This in a great measure neutralized 
the Immense advantage which Lee again had in moving upon 
a short chord, while Grant was compelled to march almost 
around the circle. Grant's calculations w^ere all made with 
great precision and certainty. The orders for moving the army 
were admirable. The long pontoon bridge across the James, 
constructed by Major Duane, was a marvel of its kind. Leav- 
ing these details to General Meade, Grant in person lost no 
time after reaching the James River in proceeding by steamer 
to Bermuda Hundred, for the purpose of giving the neces- 
sary instructions for the capture of Petersburg. Smith hav- 
ing alre;i ly arrived, was put in charge of all the available 
troops which Butler could give him, and on the night of the 
14th, began his movement upon the town In accordance with 
Grant's verbal instructions. 

He made a rapid march, and by daylight of the 15th, was 
confronting the rebel forces near Petersburg. His advance 
was made in three columns, composed of Kautz's cavalry and 
the infantry divisions of Hinks, Brooks, and Martindale. 
Skirmishing began at an early hour, resulting in driving the 
rebels into the works about Petersburg, with the loss of one 
gun. It was noon, however, before all the troops were brought 
up, and neai'ly sundown before the final dispositions for the 
attack had been perfected. Smith being an able engineer and 
a General of fine judgment, did everything with deliberation 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 241 

and precision ; his cavalry was posted well out upon the ex- 
posed flank, his batteries occupied commanding positions, 
while his infantry divisions were formed in long but mutually 
supporting line. At seven o'clock, when it had begun to o-row 
dusk, the troops, both white and colored, deployed in a heavy 
line of skirmishers, advanced rapidly to the attack, carrying 
everything before them, capturing two and a half miles of 
redoubt and rifle-pits, with 15 pieces of artillery, and taking 
300 prisoners. It was an auspicious beginning ; Lee had not 
yet arrived, and the local mihtia were a different sort of 
soldiery from that which had been encountered at Cold 
Harbor ; but darkness having set in, Smith suspended further 
operations in order to reform his troops, although, says Grant : 
" Between the line thus captured and Petersburg, there were 
no other works, and there was no evidence that the enemy 
had re-enforced Petersburg with a single brigade from any 
source. The night was clear, the moon shining brightly, and 
favorable to further operations. General Hancock, with two 
divisions of the Second corps, reached Smith just after dark, 
and offered the service of these troops, as he (Smith) might 
wish, waving rank to the named commander, who he naturally 
supposed, knew best the position of affairs, and what to do 
with the troops. But instead of taking these troops, and 
pushing at once into Petersburg, he requested General Han- 
cock to relieve a part of his line in the captured works, which 
was done before midnight." * The opportunity was deferred, 
and Petersburg was lost. That night Lee's advance reached 
the city, and by the next day its enclosing lines were bris- 
: tling with rebel bayonets. Fortifications arose on every avail- 
; able spot. Grant who had returned to the Army of the 
I Potomac for the purpose of hurrying it forward, joined Smith 
• at an early hour on the 16th, and was chagrined to see that 
nothing could be done with the force then at hand. Burnside 
I and the rest of Hancock's corps were hastened forward, and 
at SIX o'clock in the afternoon, an attack was made, continuing 
I with intermissions and varying success till six o'clock the next 

! * Grant's Official Report. 

IG 



242 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

morning. Several more of the enemy's redoubts to the left 
of Smith were taken, together with several pieces of artillery 
and about 400 prisoners. On the 17th, the Fifth corps ar- 
rived, and during that and the succeeding day, the fighting 
was renewed, but only forced the enemy to contract his lines, 
leaving the investing army in possession of much advantageous 
ground. 

The reader will have perceived from the foregoing precise 
statement of facts, that in the movement upon Petersburg, 
Grant had clearly outwitted Lee, and had beaten him on the 
march to the town by an entire day, but through the delay in 
making the attack, and its untimely suspension by General 
Smith, the ripest fruits of this superior generalship had not 
been gathered. A contemporary writer, in discussing this 
operation has not hesitated to say : " There can be no ques- 
tion as to who is responsible for the failure to take Petersburg. 
This is no other than the Lieutenant-General himself.* " To 
support this assertion he quotes from a paper said to be on 
file in the archives of the army, and upon which General 
Meade has made the following endorsement : " Had Han- 
cock or myself known Petersburg was to be attacked Peters- 
burg would have fallen." It is hard to believe that General 
Meade could have written such a sentence, for on the day 
previous to Smith's movement, he was personally directed by 
General Grant to order Hancock to march directly for Peters- 
burg by the shortest road in order to support the attack to 
be made there by Smith. 

But independent of these orders which were given to him 
verbally by the Lieutenant-General, as were many of the 
most important orders up to that epoch of the campaign, i 
both Meade and Hancock must have known that the army 
landing where it did, must necessarily take possession of and 
march through Petersburg in order to reach Richmond, or to 
secure a safe base of operations against the enemy in the 
field. In truth there was not a lieutenant in the army but 
knew that the rules of strategy reciuired as much; but the 
* Swinton's " Army of the Potomac," p., 506. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 243 

fact that Meatle had specific orders from General Grant, and 
the additional fact that two divisions of Hancock's corps act- 
ually joined Smith at Petersburg, settle all discussion upon 
this point. The failure of Smith to reap the full advantage 
of the brilliant maneuver by which he carried the outer line 
of the Petersburg defenses, was a matter which Grant could 
not possibly control. He had perfect confidence in the judg- 
ment and generalship of that oflScer, but they were both at 
fault upon this occasion. Without wasting time in vain re- 
grets, Grant set about arranging a plan by which the same or 
equal advantages might be otherwise obtained. He had sent 
Wright with a part of the Sixth corps to Bermuda Hundred, 
to re-enforce Butler, who had moved out and occupied the 
rebel works on the railroad, which had been abandoned in 
order to re-enforce Petersburg. Grant directed that Gen- 
eral to strengthen his advance and secure his hold upon 
the railroad, but instead of doing so with the combined 
forces at his disposal, he allowed Wright to halt near the 
outer lines. As soon as the pressure against Petersburg was 
relieved, the rebels returned to Butler's front, and before he 
could take effective measures to avert it drove him back 
into his fortified line which encircled his camps at Bermuda 
Hundred. 

The railroad was not seriously damaged, but had this move- 
ment been successful in securing a firm hold upon it, Peters- 
burg must have fallen, for Lee would have been compelled to 
weaken it so much in trying to dislodge Butler, that Grant's 
vigorous attacks on the 16th, 17th, and 18th, must have been 
successful, notwithstanding Smith's well-meant but ill-timed 
suspension of a successful advance, because of coming dark- 
ness, or for the purpose of fixing his flanks and straightening 
his lines. No attempt to show that either Meade or Han- 
cock did not know what he was expected to do, is sufficient 
to remove the responsibility for the failure to take Peters- 
burg, from the shoulders which should bear it. During 
the whole year which followed, those officers had abundant 
opportunities to exert an untrammeled influence in accom- 



244 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

plishing the object which the country had so much at 
heart, but notwithstanding their great merits and untiring 
zeal, it will be shown that Petersburg did not flill till 
Grant ceased to trust them exclusively with the management 
of details^ and took the control of the army directly into his 
own hands. 



CHAPTEE XXVI. 

FAILURE OF THE MOVEMENT AGAINST PETERSBURG — BTTTLER'S BRIDGE 
OVER THE JAMES — BASE OF SUPPLIES ESTABLISHED AT CITY 
POINT — PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS IN THE INVESTMENT OF PETERS- 
BURG — WILSON'S RAID — COMBAT AT NOTAWAY STATION — FIGHT 
AT SAPPONY CHURCH AND REAM'S STATION — RESULTS OF THE 
RAID — THE LINES BEFORE PETERSBURG — REBEL SORTIE — BURN- 
SIDE'S mine — JOINT OPERATIONS OF HANCOCK AND SHERIDAN AT 
DEEP BOTTOM — EXPLOSION OF THE MINE — THE ASSAULT — GRANT 
DISAPPOINTED — FAULTY EXECUTION OF DETAILS — LEE SENDS 
EARLY AGAINST WASHINGTON — SIGEL RETIRES FROM MARTINS- 
BURG — HUNTER ORDERED TO HARPER'S FERRY — GOVERNMENT 
CALLS UPON GRANT TO PROTECT WASHINGTON — SIXTH AND NINE- 
TEENTH CORPS SENT FORWARD — BATTLE AT MONOCACY BRIDGE — 
WALLACE RETIRES TO BALTIMORE — EARLY MOVES ON WASHING- 
TON AND IS DRIVEN OFF — WRIGHT ORDERED TO PURSUE EARLY — 
SKIRMISH AT 'sNICKER'S FERRY — AVERILL DEFEATS THE REBEL 
CAVALRY AT WINCHESTER — SIXTH AND NINETEENTH CORPS OR- 
DERED TO WASHINGTON — EARLY AGAIN ADVANCING TOWARDS THE 
POTOMAC — REBEL CAVALRY AT CHAMBERSBURG, PA. — SHERIDAN 
ORDERED NORTH — GRANT GOES TO WASHINGTON — CONFERS WITH 
HUNTER AT MONOCACY — HUNTER'S INSTRUCTIONS — HE IS RELIEVED 
BY SHERIDAN — THE MIDDLE MILITARY DIVISION ESTABLISHED — 
SHERIDAN ASSIGNED TO COMMAND. 

The failure of Grant's preliminary but well-planned at- 
tempts against Petersburg, made it certain that he would now 
be compelled to gain by hard fighting and superior endurance, 
the vantage ground that he had reasonably hoped to secure 
by judicious combinations and rapid marching. "With the 
view of distracting the enemy's attention, and menacing Rich- 
mond, he ordered Butler to lay a bridge across the James, 
connecting his camp with Deep Bottom, and to establish at 



246 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

that place at least one brio;acIe of his command. This order 
was carried into effect during the night of the 20th and the 
morning of the next day, thus extending Grant's lines across 
both the James and Appomattox, and giving him the means 
of communicating rapidly with all parts of his command. 

The base of supplies was brought permanently to City 
Point, wharves and storehouses were built, and in a short 
time they were covered with the multifarious articles required 
by the army. Hospitals aud bakeries were established, trans- 
ports crowded the landings, ammunition of all kinds, entrench- 
ing tools, and the ample stores of the Christian and Sanitary 
Commissions were brought forward in boundless profusion. 
A close investment of Petersburg had now become necessary, 
and in order that it should be successfully made, the army was 
required to entrench its position systematically. So ready 
had it become in this art that by the 20th, the entrenchments 
were in such shape as to permit the extension of the army 
towards the left, as far as the Weldon Road. On the next 
day the Second corps moved out and took position to the left 
and rear of Hancock. Wilson's cavalry, as soon as the army 
had all crossed the James, was thrown forward to Prince 
George Court-house, for the purpose of watching and cover- 
ing the left of the army as far round as the Blackwater. In 
order to make the investment complete it had been determined 
to extend the infantry by successive movements till the invest- 
ing line should cross all the railroads, and its left rest upon 
the Appomattox. To relieve these movements of a part of 
their danger, and to effectually isolate Petersburg from the 
rest of the rebel territory, Grant directed that all the cavalry 
force then with the army should be sent out to break up the 
Danville and Southside Railroad, with authority to join Hunter 
in the neighborhood of Lynchburg, to cross the Roanoke and 
march to the North Carolina sea-board, or to push on and 
join Sherman in Northern Georgia, as should be found most 
practicable. 

Accordingly at an early hour on the 22d, General Wilson, 
with his own division of cavalry, re-enforced by Kautz's di- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 247 

vision, belonging to the Array of the James, marched rapidly 
towards the interior, crossing the Welduu Koad at Keara's 
Station, destroying the depot and tearing up the track tor 
some distance ; then bearing more to the northward he struck 
the Danville Road, at a point fifteen miles from Petersburg. 
He was followed by one division of rebel cavalry, but dispos- 
ing his rear brigade under Chapman to cover the working 
parties, he pursued his way along the railroad, tearing up the 
track, burning the stations, ties, wood-piles, saw-mills and 
tanks, and dispersing the detachments of militia which were 
encountered. Near Notaway Court House, having lost an 
hour or two by being misled through the carelessness of the 
advanced guard, he was overtaken by W. H. F. Lee, and after 
a sharp combat of several hours, in which Chapuuurs brigade 
did the principal fighting, he repulsed the force confronting 
him and proceeded to Meherrin Station where he formed a 
junction with Kautz, who had been sent to seize and destroy 
the junction at Burksville. From the latter place to the Ro- 
anoke Bridge the Danville Road was completely destroyed, 
but finding the rebel militia strongly entrenched at the bridge, 
and being closely followed by Lee's cavalry, after an ineffect- 
ual effort to burn the bridge, he set out to return to the Army 
on the James River. 

Marching rapidly south-eastward and then northward, 
crossing the Meherrin and Notaway Rivers, he took the 
road towards Prince George Court House, but did not suc- 
ceed in passing Stony Creek before he encountered the whole 
of Hampton's cavalry, occupying a strong position at Sap- 
pony Church. The bulk of this force, when the raid began, 
was known to be on the north side of the James, engaged in 
a campaign against Sheridan, and it was confidently expected 
that it would be kept too busy to pay any attention to Wil- 
son. But as it had repassed the James and now barred the 
roads towards Petersburg, a determined and bloody engage- 
ment ensued, lasting from late in the afternoon, till daylight 
the next day. AVilson, finding that it was impossible to force 
a crossing of Stony Creek, in the face of such odds, made a 



2i8 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

detour from liis left with the view of crossing higher up and 
reaching the army in the neighborhood of Keam's Station; 
but on arriving at that place, instead of finding the Army of 
the Potomac, he met the rebel infantry, ready to dispute his 
further progress. His command was jaded with constant 
marching and fighting, and encumbered by wounded men, 
of whom he had two hundred and eighty in all kinds of vehi- 
cles. A rapid survey of the situation convinced him that it 
would be madness to undertake to break the serried lines of 
infantry in his front, and that there was nothing left to be 
done but to run for it, unless succor should soon arrive. 
A staff officer had been sent at an early hour with a squadron 
to break his way through, and report to Meade for assistance. 
After waiting as long as it was safe, replenishing ammunition, 
and parking the ambulance and ammunition train, which it 
was necessary to abandon, Wilson began his retrograde move- 
ment. In withdrawing, his rear guard and artillery were 
caught in flank and driven off the road, and the latter while 
crossing Hatcher's Run had to be abandoned. Kautz worked 
his way through the woods and succeeded in reaching the 
army that night, while "Wilson crossed the Notaway twice, 
and the Blackwater once, reaching the army in safety after a 
march of one hundred and thirty miles In eighty hours, during 
the whole of which, except six hours, his command was engaged 
either in marching or fighting. This raid had been eminently 
successful till it reached Stony Creek on its return. The rail- 
road was broken so that the rebels were unable to use it for 
something over two months, and had the army succeeded in 
covering the southern approaches to Petersburg, as General 
Meade informed Wilson that it intended to do, or had Meade 
looked out properly to prevent Hampton from dropping Sher- 
idan and falling upon Wilson, all danger to the latter in re- 
turnin«y would have been averted.* As it was. General 
Grant avers in his report, that the danger inflicted upon the 
enemy by this expedition more than compensated for the loss 
it sustained. 

* See Sheridan's Report, " Conduct of the War," vol. ii., Supplement. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 249 

As before stated, it had been designed to extend the left of 
the infantry so as to completely encircle Petersburg on the 
south side, but at the first movement toward the Weldon lioad, 
the enemy manifested great determination to pi'event it. To 
the Second corps was assigned the task of making the first 
advance, but it had not got fairly under way before it was 
compelled to halt. The general movement was then suspended 
and converted into an attempt to envelope the right flank of 
the rebel lines. For this purpose the left wing of the Second 
corps, consisting of the divisions of Mott and Barlow, was 
thrown forward, but as the maneuver was executed without 
any regard to the Sixth corps, and was so directed as to leave 
a constantly increasing gap between the two corps, the enemy 
as a matter of course, availed himself of this chance, pushed 
forward into the opening, driving back the flanks of both the 
Sixth and Second corps, sweeping away Barlow's and Mott's 
divisions like leaves before an autumn wind. Pressing on he 
struck Gibbon's division in the left flank and rear, rolling it up 
like a scroll, and capturing entrenchments, guns and stand- 
ards, besides 2,500 prisoners. This vigorous and unexpected 
swoop caused a rapid contraction of the national left, and re- 
sulted in throwing it upon the defensive for several weeks 
thereafter. The plan of this day's operations could not have 
been more faultily carried out ; for all the fighting which fol- 
lowed, it resulted in no advantage whatever to the Union 
army, but was the cause of severe loss and many troubles. 

Both armies now for awhile abandoned the aggressive 
policy, and set about strengthening their lines. The rebels 
forthwith developed their rifle-trench into a formidable chain 
of redans, connected by parapets of strong profile, covered 
by ditches, abattis and entanglements. Beginning in front 
of Butler, their line crossed the Appomattox below Peters- 
burg, encircling that ])1ace completely beyond the reach of 
the Union artillery. The southern or western end of these 
works was thrown forward to cover as much as possible, the 
system of communication with the South and South-west. 
The railroads being broken, Lee was compelled to supply his 



250 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

army by hauling his stores from Stony Creek depot with 
wagons. In order to protect them, great vigilance and a de- 
termined front on his outer flank were necessary. 

Grant now allowed his army to rest from fighting, but put 
it to work in rendering its position entirely secure. The en- 
trenchments were strengthened, by all the means available, 
artillery of larger calibre was brought forward, and every 
eifort was made to consolidate the army and render it efficient. 
No systematic siege operations were undertaken, but when- 
ever opportunity offered, our lines were advanced and new 
fortifications were built. Burnside's corps contained a regi- 
ment of Pennsylvania miners, commanded by Colonel Pleas- 
ants, an active and enterprising officer, who asked and obtained 
authority to sink a shaft and drive a gallery under a rebel 
work, situated about one hundred and fifty yards to the front, 
on the slopes of a ridge known as Cemetery Hill. This work 
was carried forward rapidly, and, when finished, a system of 
mines in close connection with each other, was established, 
and all the necessary arrangements were made for exploding 
them simultaneously. The enterprise at first attracted but 
little attention and nobody had much faith in its practicability 
or efficiency, but now that the mine was completed Grant con- 
ceived the idea that its explosion would afford him opportu- 
nity of storming the enemy's works. It has been previously 
stated that Butler had constructed a pontoon bridge across 
the James, thus opening close communication with Deep Bot- 
tom. General Foster's brigade of troops held this position, 
and caused Lee to detach a corresponding force with which he 
kept up communication by a pontoon bridge at Drury's Bluff. 

On the 26th of July, Grant silently withdrew Hancock's 
corps from its place in the investing lines, and directed him to 
proceed to Deep Bottom where he would be joined by Sheri- 
dan with two divisions of cavalry, after which he was in- 
structed to make a strong demonstration in the direction of 
(liapin's Farm, while Sheridan, strengthened by Kautz, 
should make a dash towards the Virginia Central Railroad 
and Richmond. In pursuance of this plan, Hancock turned 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 251 

the left flank of the force confronting Foster, by a skillful 
maneuver, captured four guns and drove the enemy from his 
front line to his second beyond Bailey's Creek. Sheridan 
moving still farther to the right, also drove back the rebels 
capturing several hundred prisoners. But their new line was 
very strong, and after a careful examination Hancock con- 
cluded that it was impracticable to dislodge them. Lee, as a 
matter of course, was not long in hearing of these menacing 
operations on the north side of the James, and therefore 
hastened to strengthen the troops already there, by large re- 
enforcements from the defenses of Petersburg. By the next 
morning five of the eight rebel divisions under Lee were con- 
fronting our troops on the north side of the James, and soon 
after daylight they assumed the offensive, attacking Sheridan 
on the New Market and Long Ridge roads, in the neighbor- 
hood of Darbytown. The dismounted troopers fought stub- 
bornly, but they could not contend with the superior numbers 
of the rebel infantry and were forced to retire, though undei* 
the energetic command of Sheridan they finally succeeded in 
repulsing their assailants. Hancock remained strictly on the 
defensive, both on that day and the next ; and on the night 
of the 20th, in compliance with Grant's orders, he returned 
to his old position in front of Petersburg, followed by Sheri- 
dan for the purpose of assisting in the assault already ordered 
to take place immediately after the explosion of the mine. 
The mine was sprung between four and five o'clock A. M., 
July 30th, twenty or thirty minutes later than the time speci- 
fied, blowing up an entire battery and a part of a regiment. 
The rebels were much surprised, and not knowing when the 
' next explosion would take place, fled from that part of their 
I line in disorder. But the assaulting column of the Ninth 
1 corps through the failure of the engineers to prepare proper 
debouches from its lines was not able to advance promptly or 
in proper order, so that twenty or thirty minutes were again 
lost. In the meantime, the rebels recovered from their sur- 
prise, and when the assaulting column reached the crater and 
the works on its right and left, they were met by a determined 



252 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

artillery and musketry fire from the enemy who had reformed 
on commanding ground somewhat to the rear. The advance 
was therefore checked, and although new troops were thrown 
forward, many of. them into the crater, they did not succeed 
in penetrating beyond. It soofl became apparent that the 
opportunity was lost ; and that to save the further effusion of 
blood the troops must be withdrawn to their own lines. This 
was done, but not till after they had sustained heavy loss. 
" Thus," says Grant, " terminated in disaster what promised 
to be the most successful assault of the campaign." The 
combination of the movements, and the direction of the 
forces, had been made with consummate ability. Lee was 
completely deceived, and thereby induced to send two-thirds 
of his entire army to resist a feint, while Grant had calcu- 
lated to hurl his entire force upon the weakened lines in 
his front, but he was destined to chew the bitter cud of dis- 
appointment. His well-laid schemes were entirely thwarted 
"^by the faulty execution of details which he could not possibly 
supervise, and yet Grant has been unjustly blamed* for not 
having properly regulated these subordinate but essential 
matters in person. The simple truth in regard to the affair 
of the mine is, that the assault was not made in time ; the 
troops were not ready for it when the explosion took place, 
and no adequate means of debouchment from the works had 
been prepared. These were details clearly under the control 
of Meade and Burnside, and their engineer officers, for the 
regulation of which no specific orders under any circum- 
stances should have been required from the Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral. That they were neglected was probably due to a 
general lack of confidence that the mine would accomplish 
any useful purpose. It was simply another case of failure 
to prepare for the contingency of success. The rebels were 
considerably elated by what happened, and our own troops 
somewhat disheartened, but Grant's confidence, in the ultimate 
success of our arms remained unshaken. The disaster may 
have taught him not to depend too much upon others, but it 
* See Swinton'3 " Army of the Potomac." 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 253 

also induced him to hasten his preparations for cutting loose 
from his base at City Point, and throwing his army boldly 
into the interior beyond Petersburg with the view of seizing 
firmly upon Lee's communications, and thus compelling him 
to come out and give battle. This plan had been conceived 
immediately after the failure of the first decided attempts to 
take Petersburg, but it had been deferred or modified from 
time to time by the adoption of less radical measures which 
it was hoped might succeed, and was still farther delayed by 
operations elsewhere on the part of the rebels. But the idea 
had taken firm hold upon the mind of the Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral, and was destined only a few months later to find its 
embodiment in the final campaign and the closing events of 
the war. 

In the meantime Lee availed himself of the dead lock in 
operations which followed close upon the mine explosion, and 
the eccentric retreat of Hunter from Lynchburg, to make a 
diversion in favor of his own beleaguered forces, by sending a 
strong detachment towards Washington. He hoped to con- 
duct this demonstration with so much secresy as to capture 
the national capital, before assistance could be sent to it, or at 
least that Grant would be compelled to part with so much of 
the armies about Petersburg, as to throw them completely 
upon the defensive. Lee looked also to the occupancy of the 
Shenandoah Valley as a necessary part of his plan, on ac- 
count of his uncertain tenure over the i-ailroads leading south- 
ward by which most of his supplies were obtained. Should 
they be seized it would become a matter of prime importance 
that he should keep his troops scattered as much as possible, 
consistent with safety so as to facilitate their subsistence,. and 
at the same time enable him to draw upon the country occu- 
pied by them, for the support of the army retained for the 
defense of Richmond. The Shenandoah Valley noted for its 
abundant crops of grain, became towards harvest time, an 
object of great attraction to the rebels. 

In marching northward, Early pursued the beaten track, 
^own the Valley of the Shenandoah, striking the Baltimore 



554 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

and Ohio Railroad, on the 3d of July, just above Harper's 
Ferry. Sigel, with a small force, holding Martinsburg, was 
compelled to fall back towards Sharpsburg, and finally after 
several smart combats, to concentrate his entire command on 
Maryland Heights. 

As soon as Grant discovered this hostile movement towards 
the frontier of Maryland and Pennsylvania, he ordered Hun- 
ter, who had reached the Kanawha Kiver, to move his troops 
by water to Wheeling, and thence by rail, as rapidly as pos- 
sible towards Harper's Ferry. But owing to extreme low 
water, and to the interruption of railway travel. Hunter was 
delayed much longer than expected. The Government be- 
coming somewhat alarmed for the safety of Washington, 
called upon Grant to protect it, and for this purpose the Sixth 
corps was withdrawn from the investment of Petersburg, two 
divisions of which, under Wright in person, were sent for- 
ward by means of steam transports to Washington, and the 
third under Ricketts to Baltimore. The Nineteenth corps, 
which Grant had withdrawn from the Gulf Department, im- 
mediately after the failure of the Red River expedition, had 
now begun to arrive at Fortress Monroe, and was also sent 
forward. 

The garrisons at Washington and Baltimore were composed 
of heavy artillery regiments, veteran reserves, and emergency 
men called out for a hundred days. Halleck as Chief-of-Staff 
and the senior General in the Department of Washington, 
held supreme control, subject only to Grant and the Presi- 
dent ; Augur commanded the troops in the Department of 
Washington ; Hunter those in West Virginia ; Wallace those 
at Baltimore, and Sigel those near Harper's Ferry ; but as these 
forces were widely scattered and neither of them sufficiently 
strong to contend successfully with Early, now marching 
rapidly wherever he chose, the situation was one of inmiinent 
danger. On the 6th of July, Early having crossed the Po- 
tomac without opposition, entered Hagerstown, but instead 
of pushing boldly upon Washington, he spent several days in 
minor expeditions. However, by the 8th, he had concentra- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 255 

ted and moved forward to Frederick. By this time, Wallace 
with his heterogeneous command, including the troops under 
Sio-el, had been re-enforced by the arrival of Ricketts, and 
had taken up a strong position south of the Monocacy, four 
miles from Frederick City, where he prepared to dispute the 
further advance of the rebel troops towards Baltimore. His 
force was not great enough to contend successfully with 
Early's well organized army, and after a determined battle of 
several hours, in which he inflicted a loss of nearly six hun- 
dred men upon the enemy, Wallace was compelled to abandon 
the field and fall back upon Baltimore. 

The road was now open, and Early sending his cavalry to 
destroy the Northern Central, and to burn the viaduct of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Road, which they succeeded in doing, 
pushed forward rapidly towards Washington ; but his forced 
delay at the jNIonocacy, had given time for the arrival of 
Wright with two divisions of the Sixth and the advance of the 
Nineteenth corps. Early's advanced troops drew up in front 
of the fortifications, covering the capital, on the morning of 
the 11th, and by the middle of the afternoon his entire force 
was in position for an attack, but did not venture upon it. 
On the 12th, a reconnoissance was made by ^ brigade of the 
Sixth corps, holding the lines about Fort Stevens, during 
which they fell upon the enemy and drove him nearly a mile 
losing 260 killed and wounded, but inflicting a heavier loss 
upon the insurgents. Finding that he was anticipated and 
foiled by the arrival of the Sixth corps, from the James, Early 
retired under cover of darkness, and retreated to the west side 
of the Potomac, crossing at Edward's Ferry, carrying with 
him " much booty but little glory." Having been advised of 
this termination to the invasion of Maryland, Grant assigned 
Wright to the command of all the troops in the neighborhood 
of Washington, and " directed that he should get outside of 
the trenches with all the force he could, and push Early to the 
last moment." The next day Wright began the pursuit, but 
did not overtake the rebels till they reached Snicker's Ferry 
in the Shenandoah Valley. Here a sharp skirmish ensued ; 



256 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

but instead of waiting to deliver battle, Early pushed rapldlj 
up tlie valley. On the 18th, xVverill with a division of" cav- 
alry fiell upon and defeated a rebel detachment at Winches- 
ter, capturing four pieces of artiilei-y and several hundred 
prisoners. 

Anticipating that Early would retreat to Lynchburg or 
Richmond, Grant ordered the Sixth and Nineteenth corps 
back to Washington with the view of re-enforcing the armies 
on the James, and using them against- Lee before that Gen- 
eral's own troops could rejoin him. Hunter, who had reached 
the valley, was ordered to concentrate his forces, holding a 
defensive attitude between Washington and any new force 
which might be sent in that direction. But before this new 
combination could be carried into effect, it became known 
that Early was again advancing towards the Potomac with 
hostile intentions, whereupon Wright's command was ordered 
back to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry. On the 30th, a small 
force of rebel cavalry, under McCausland, marching by the 
way of Williamsport, dashed into Chambersburg, in lower 
Pennsylvania, and after laying it under tribute, burned the 
place ; they then retreated by the way of Cumberland, near 
which place they were met and defeated by General Kelly. 

From the time of Early's first demonstration in the direc- 
tion of Washington, General Grant experienced great diffi- 
culty on account of the interruption of telegrajihic co-mmuni- 
cation in getting his instructions correctly and efficiently 
carried out. Then, too, under the previous regime, the 
threatened territory was divided into several departments, 
and independent commands, and hence the disposition of the 
troops was more or less faulty, and their movements were 
incoherent. Grant, on the 2d of August, ordered Sheridan 
to Washington, and assigned him to the general conmiand. 
A few days thereafter, the Lleutenant-General went to Wash- 
ington in person, and thence to the Monocacy where he met 
Hunter, and after learning the exact situation of affairs, 
ordered him to concentrate all his available force, without 
delay, at Harper's Ferry, and after arriving there to go after 



LIFE OF ULYSSES 8. GRANT. 257 

Early, no matter where he might be found. If the latter had 
crossed the Potomac in full force, Hunter was directed to 
overtake and fight him, and to follow him if he should be 
driven south of the Potomac as long as it was safe to do so. 
In case it should be found that only a force of raiders had 
gone north, he was directed to send a detachment after them, 
to drive them southward, and to march with the main body 
of his troops in the same direction, destroying everything 
that could invite the enemy to return, but taking for the use 
of his own army, all provisions, stock and forage which were 
necessary for its support. He was cautioned to bear in mind 
that his object was to drive the rebels South, and that to do 
this he should keep them always in sight. 

In pursuance of these ringing orders. Hunter, with the 
alacrity of BlLicher in the campaign of 1814, put the troops 
at once in motion, but on arriving at Halltown he was re- 
lieved, with his own consent by Sheridan, who had been 
stopped at Washington. Grant having already recommended 
it, the different departments in that theater of operations, 
were consolidated on the 7th of August, into the Middle 
Military Division, and Sheridan was assigned temporarily to 
the chief command, with head-quarters in the field. Wash- 
ington and Baltimore, with the country adjacent, had up to 
this time constituted the Department of Washington ; Cen- 
tral Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland, the Department 
of the Susquehanna ; North-western Virginia and Western 
Pennsylvania, the Department of West Virginia ; and the 
Valley of the Shenandoah, eastward to Bull Run Mountains, 
the Middle Military Department. This arrangement gave 
rise to petty jealousies between the different commanders, 
and should have been abolished long before, as it had been 
fruitful in nothing but indecisive combat and inharmonious 
combinations. 

Grant remained in North Virginia long enough to fix his 
young lieutenant firmly in the command with which he had 
been charged, and then returned to the array confronting 

Petersburg. 

° 17 



CHAPTEK XXVII. 

THE NEW ARRANGEMENTS IN MILITARY AFFAIRS AT WASHINGTON — 
SHERIDAN PREPARES FOR AN ACTIVE CAMPAIGN — JOINED BY 
TORBERT AND WILSON — EARLY RE-ENFORCED — SHERIDAN FALLS 
BACK — MERRITT ATTACKED — REBELS REPULSED — SHERIDAN CON- 
CENTRATED AT HALLTOWN — THE AFFAIR AT KERNEYVILLE — GRANT 
VISITS SHERIDAN — INSTRUCTS HIM TO GO IN — THE BATTLE AT 
WINCHESTER — THE ENGAGEMENT AT FISHER'S HILL — EARLY RE- 
TREATS — SHERIDAN FALLS BACK TO THE LOWER VALLEY — WILSON 
ORDERED WEST — THE REBELS ROUTED AT TOM'S CREEK — SHERI- 
DAN'S army at CEDAR CREEK — HE IS CALLED TO WASHING- 
TON — EARLY ATTACKS THE UNION TROOPS — HIS SUCCESS — A CRIT- 
ICAL MOMENT — SHERIDAN REJOINS HIS ARMY — HE ORDERS AN 
ADVANCE — DETERMINED FIGHTING — REBELS DEFEATED — THE END 
OP EARLY'S CAMPAIGN — OBSERVATIONS. 

The new arrangement of military affairs about Washing- 
ton, by which Halleck and the various department commanders 
were shorn of power, and the control of operations in that 
quarter was confided to a thoroughly vital and aggressive 
General, was an exceedingly fortunate and judicious measure 
on the part of General Grant. The safety of Washington 
and the control of the Shenandoah Valley had hitherto caused 
him great concern, but he could now give general instructions 
and leave his lieutenant to work out the details according to 
his own ideas. The latter guided by the orders that had been 
given to Hunter, had no doubt as to the policy that he 
was expected to pursue. As a preliminary precaution, he 
was permitted to gather his troops together to look to their 
equipment, and by a thorough reorganization to prepare 
them for an active campaign. When Sheridan assumed com- 



i 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 259 

mancl of the Middle Military Division, he found there the 
Sixth corps, two small divisions under Crook, one division of 
the Nineteenth corps, and a small division of cavalry under 
Averill. He was shortly afterwards joined by Torbert's 
division of cavalry from the Army of the Potomac and still 
later by Wilson's division. On the 10th of August he be- 
gan a forward movement from Halltown towards Berryville, 
thus throwing himself behind the right flank of the rebel 
army stationed at Bunker Hill. Having made this march, his 
cavalry and infantry were then headed towards the Opequan, 
demonstrating towards Winchester. This caused Early to 
fall back rapidly beyond Cedar Creek to which place he was 
pursued by Sheridan. At this juncture the latter received 
information, from his scouts, which was soon confirmed by 
a despatch from Grant, that Lee had sent two divisions 
of inflmtry, twenty guns and a detachment of cavalry to 
strengthen Early, and that this force was moving by the 
way of Culpepper and Front Royal. Fearing that he could 
not cope successfully with so large a body, and knowing that 
defeat would lay open to invasion both Maryland and Penn- 
sylvania, Sheridan wisely determined to fall back to Hall- 
town, and wait for a better opportunity to strike a decisive 
blow. 

This policy was sanctioned by the judgment of the Lieu- 
tenant-General, and was immediately but deliberately carried 
into effect. On the 16th, Merritt's division, near Front Royal, 
was attacked by Kershaw's division of Longstreet's corps, 
supported by two brigades of cavalry, but after a gallant 
fight succeeded in repulsing the enemy, capturing 2 standards 
and 300 prisoners. The next day the retrograde movement 
began ; a part of the infantry retiring by way of Berryville, 
and the rest followed by Wilson's division which had just 
arrived from Washington, by Winchester and Summit Point, 
at both of which places there were sharp skirmishes with the 
advancing rebels. On the 23d, Sheridan had concentrated 
his entire command, now also increased by the arrival of 
Grover's division of the Nineteenth corps, at Halltown, and 



2G0 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

from his securely entrenched position began a series of well 
arranged reconnoissances for the purpose of satisfying himself 
in regard to Early's real force and intention. On the 25th, 
he sent Torbert with IMerritt and Wilson to fall upon Fitzhugh 
Lee's cavalry supposed to be encamped beyond Kerney ville ; 
but instead of Lee they encountered the rebel infantry under 
Breckinridge, on the march towards Shepherdstown. A de* 
termined attack was made, which resulted in throwing the 
rebels into considerable confusion, and before they recovered 
from it Torbert returned rapidly to the place from which he 
had started. There is no doubt that Early had begun this 
movement with the intention of again crossing the Potomac, 
but believing from Sheridan's activity that his object had been 
discovered, he returned to his position in front of Halltown. 
The next day he fell back beyond the Opequan, and was 
again followed by Sheridan. Shortly afterwards Early was 
directed to send a part of his force back to Richmond. Hear- 
ing of this, and being convinced that the time for Sheridan to 
strike had now come, but fearing to telegraph the order for 
an attack without knowing fully the situation as viewed by 
Sheridan, Grant hastened from City Point to "Washington, 
and thence to the Shenandoah Valley, where he arrived on 
the 16th of September. After conferring fully with Sheri- 
dan, who expressed great confidence in his ability to over- 
throw Early, Grant instructed him, as his official report 
expressed it, to " Go in ! " 

Sheridan's forces were well in hand, Wilson on the left, 
near Berryville, Torbert on the right, near Summit Point, with 
the infantry well disposed between the two. The movement 
began at three o'clock on the morning of September 19th. 
Wilson, with Mcintosh's brigade in front, marching rapidly 
to the Opefjuan along the Berryville Turnpike, drove back 
the rebel picket, forced a crossing, and dashed through the 
heavily wooded ravine, up which the road winds, striking the 
right of Ramseur's division about two miles in front of Win- 
chester, before dawn. A sharp and decisive combat ensued, 
in which the rebels were driven pell-mell from their works ; 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 261 

but they returned to the attack at once, and were again re- 
pulsed. The ground thus gained was held till after eight 
o'clock, at which time Upton's brigade of the Sixth corps 
arrived. By nine o'clock most of the army was in position 
ready to move forward. Torbert, who was directed to ad- 
vance with Merritt's division from Summit Point, for the 
purpose of forcing the Opequan, opposite that place, and 
forming a junction with Averill at or near Stevenson's depot, 
met with considerable opposition, and was delayed some hours 
in getting to the field. The attack was made by the Sixth 
and Nineteenth corps in handsome style, while Crook's com- 
mand was held in reserve to be used as a turning column. 
Early had made hot haste from the time the first shot was 
fired before dawn, to concentrate his army which he had 
spread out considerably for the purpose of watching Sher- 
idan, and was soon occupying a strong position on the ridge 
east of Winchester. The fighting was bloody and obstinate 
from the start, and neither army being covered by earthworks, 
the mortality was great. After a successful advance, while 
our lines were somewhat disordered. Early in turn attacked 
and drove Sheridan's center back ; but his success was only 
momentary , at this critical juncture, Sheridan threw forward 
Upton's brigade of Russell's division, catching Early's attack- 
ing force in the flank and di'iving it rapidly from the field. 
The gallant Russell was slain, while Upton was severely 
wounded. Crook, who was still in reserve, was now thrown to 
the extreme right (instead of to the left as was intended), with 
orders to find the left of the enemy's line and crush it. Aided 
by Torbert, with Merritt's and Averill's horse, this movement 
became perfectly successful, cavalry and infantry vicing with 
each other in deeds of gallantry. Early's line was crowded 
back on both flanks, broken in the center and routed every- 
where ; his men had nothing to do but to fly southward under 
cover of darkness. Night alone saved the rebel army from 
complete destruction. 

The next day Sheridan pushed forward in pursuit, finding 
the enemy at night drawn up in line and partly entrenched at 



2G2 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Fisher's Hill. He afrain determined to send Crook to turn the 
enemy's left and fall upon his rear, but in order to accomplish 
this, great secresy was necessary ; the rebels had signal sta- 
tions on the top of a neighboring mountain from which all 
our movements could be observed. Crook was therefore con- 
cealed in the heavy timber near Strasburg, north of Cedar 
Creek, where he remained during the 21st. Before dawn 
the next day, he marched to the position assigned him, on 
Little North Mountain to the left and rear of Early's line. 
The Sixth and Nineteenth corps were massed opposite Early's 
right center, and Ricketts' division of the Sixth corps with 
Averill's cavalry was then ordered to make a demonstration 
along the hostile front, which they did in handsome style, at- 
tracting the enemy's attention completely. The firing had 
become pretty general, when all at once, Crook burst from the 
woods on. the hill-side, striking the astonished rebels in flank 
and rear, and in a few moments swept away their whole 
line, taking many prisoners and guns, and throwing them into 
inextricable confusion. 

Unfortunately, Torbert, with the bulk of the cavalry, had 
been sent, with orders to proceed rapidly up the Luray Val- 
ley and to cross the mountains for the purpose of falling upon 
Early's rear; but the road by which he marched, running for 
several miles along a narrow defile was easily blockaded, by 
the small force of rebels which had fallen back before him. 
Everything practicable was done to get forward, but the prog- 
ress made was slow. Early, in the meanwhile, continued his 
retreat through New Market, Harrisonburg, Port Republic, 
and thence to Brown's Gap in the Blue Ridge, closely pur- 
sued by the cavalry. Many skirmishes ensued, and a large 
number of prisoners were taken, but the enemy could not be 
again brought to a stand. Having cleared the upper valley 
entirely of the insurgent force, Sheridan withdrew his victo- 
rious troops, slowly to Harrisonburg, destroying the forage, 
grain mills, and such other property as might be serviceable 
to the rebel army. 

" The question that now presented itself," says Sheridan In 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 263 

liis official report, " was whetlier or not I should follow the 
enemy to Brown's Gap, where he still held fast, drive him 
out, and advance on Charlottesville and Gordonsville. This 
movement on Gordonsville I was opposed to for many reasons, 
the most important of which was, that it would necessitate 
the opening of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and to 
protect this road against the numerous guerrilla bands, would 
have required a corps of infantry ; besides I would have been 
obliged to leave a small force in the valley to give security to 
the line of the Potomac. This would probably occupy the 
whole of Crook's command, leaving me but a small number 
of fighting men." For these and other cogent reasons, he 
thought it best to continue his retrograde movement to the 
lower valley and then to send the Sixth and Nineteenth corps 
back to Petersburg by the way they had been brought from 
there. He was followed close by the rebel cavalry under 
Rosser, who attacked the Third cavalry division now under 
Custer, Wilson having been ordered West to reorganize and 
command Sherman's cavalry. Sheridan could not brook 
such insolence, but halted his army and sent Torbert with 
Merritt and Custer, to check Eosser's career. The two col- 
umns met at Tom's Creek and after a short but decisive en- 
gagement, the enemy was routed, leaving eleven guns, about 
four hundred prisoners and all his. vehicles in the hands of 
the victors, who pursued him as far as Mount Jackson, some 
twenty-six miles. Recalling his cavalry, Sheridan halted his 
army at Cedar Creek, and on the 10th of October was called 
to Washington to confer with the Government in regard to 
further operations. In the interim the enemy advanced again 
to Fisher's Hill, though he manifested- no other evidence of 
hostile intention. But Early had been re-enforced, and during 
the absence of Sheridan, on the night of the 18th, and early on 
the morning of the 19th, he moved silently through Strasburg, 
sent a strong turning column across the Shenandoah, and 
after marching below the left flank of the Union army, re- 
crossed the river at Boman's Ford, under cover of a heavy fog, 
striking the left of Crook's line, driving in his outposts, captur- 



264: LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

ing his camps, and completely turning his position. Tl)is was 
followed by a vigorous direct attack upon the Union front, and 
before the true situation of affairs was fairly realized, the 
whole army was driven back in confusion nearly to Middletown, 
with the loss of many prisoners, and nearly all the artillery. 

Fortunately, however, the rebels did not realize the extent 
of their success, or being overjoyed at it, they stopped to 
count the booty found in the camps which they had captured, 
thus giving General Wright time to partially reorganize his 
forces. Sheridan, in the meanwhile, had arrived at Win- 
chester, on his way to rejoin his army, aud hearing the sound 
of artillery in the distance, hastened forward, though still not 
thinking a battle was in progress. He had not ridden far, 
however, when he met a sickening cloud of fugitives, who had 
determined to save themselves if running could do it. Put- 
ting spurs to his horse he galloped to the front and soon 
reached the field upon which the army had been halted. 
Hastily pushing the rear division to the line held by Getty 
and Torbert, and sending his staff officers to the rear for the 
purpose of bringing every available man to the front, he soon 
had most of the army well in hand. Those first on the 
ground were set to work entrenching. Merritt's cavalry was 
formed on the left, Custer's on the right, while Powell's .(for- 
merly Averill's) held a position on the Front Royal pike. 
Everything possible was done to restore confidence, and to 
prepare the army for assuming the offensive. This was de- 
layed by the report that the rebel infantry had made its ap- 
pearance in Powell's front and was threatening a movement 
towards Winchester. Having satisfied himself that this was 
not the case, Sheridan at four p. m., ordered the army to ad- 
vance, which it did with its accustomed steadiness aud confi- 
dence, driving the rebels from behind fences, breastworks and 
hedges, steadily back upon Cedar Creek. The fighting Avas 
very determined, and at one time, Sheridan's lines being over- 
lapped by the rebel left, a portion of the Nineteenth corps 
was thrown into momentary confusion. At this junction of 
affairs, Sheridan dashed to the head of McMillan's brigade. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 265 

and led them vigorously against the re-entrant in his front, 
penetrating the angle fearlessly and breaking the rebel line. 

Custer just then charged with his division, and with a sim- 
ultaneous and impetuous dash by the entire army, the rebels 
were routed and driven in confusion beyond Cedar Creek, 
leaving their artillery, (including the captured guns) caissons, 
wagons and ambulances, besides many prisoners, to grace the 
victory of the impetuous Sheridan. 

This battle practically put an end to the campaign in the 
Valley of Virginia, for although Early still continued to lurk 
about in the neighboring mountains, occasionally descending 
fearfully into the valley, he was never again entrusted with a 
command large enough to give serious concern, or to prevent 
the various detachments of Sheridan's army from marching 
whithersoever they chose in the country north of Richmond. 
During the winter, Sheridan disposed of his cavalry so as to 
drive out the guerrillas and to reduce the territory under his 
control, to comparative quiet, while the Sixth corps being no 
longer needed, was returned to the Army of the Potomac, to 
join in the operations against Petersburg. One division of 
the Nineteenth corps was sent to the Army of the James, and 
the other to Savannah to join Sherman. 

During his brilliant campaign, Sheridan's force never ex- 
ceeded 30,000 effective men, and never included any other 
troops than those mentioned above ; while Early's force was 
probably quite as large, notwithstanding the assertions to the 
contrary, industriously put forth by that officer and his allies. 
Sheridan took fully 13,000 prisoners as shown by the records 
of his Provost Marshal, in the various battles and skirmishes, 
and during this time suffered the loss of 1,938 killed, 11,893 
wounded, and 3,121 missing ; a grand total of 16,952. It 
is fair to assume that Early's killed and wounded must have 
been fully as heavy, or in round numbers 13,800 men, which, 
added to the captured, gives nearly 27,000 men, killed, 
wounded, and taken prisoners. Besides this, Sheridan took 
from them, 100 pieces of artillery, 5,000 stands of small 
anus, and much valuable property. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

grant's efforts to secure harmonious action — candy's com- 
mand — RESULTS of consolidation — THE MAGNITUDE OF GRANT'S 
COMMAND — HI3 VIEWS IN REGARD TO OPERATIONS WEST OP THE 
MISSISSIPPI RIVER— HIS INTERVIEW WITH SHERMAN— SHERMAN 
PREPARES FOR ACTIVE OPERATIONS — DESCRIPTION OF THE COUN- 
TRY BETWEEN CHATTANOOGA AND ATLANTA — THE POSITION OF 
THE ENEMY AT ROCKY FACE — THOMAS OCCUPIES TUNNEL HILL — 
MAKES A LODGMENT ON ROCKY FACE RIDGE — THE FAILURE OF 
M'pHERSON'S MOVEMENT AGAINST RESACA — JOHNSTON EVACUATES 
BUZZARD ROOST — THE UNION ARMY ASSEMBLES AT SNAKE CREEK 
GAP — SHERMAN ENVELOPES THE REBEL WORKS AT RESACA — BAT- 
TLE OF RESACA — JOHNSTON FALLS BACK TO ADAIRSVILLE — CAP- 
TURE OF ROME — SKIRMISH AT ADAIRSVILLE — JOHNSTON TAKES 
POSITION AT CASSVILLE — AGAIN FALLS BACK — SHERMAN CUTS 
LOOSE FROM THE RAILROAD — BATTLE AT NEW HOPE CHURCH — 
CAPTURE OF ALLATOONA — ESTABLISHMENT OF A SECONDARY BASE 
OF SUPPLIES — SHERMAN RE-ENFORCED BY BLAIR — JOHNSTON FOR- 
TIFIES AT LOST AND KENESAW MOUNTAINS — GENERAL POLK KILLED 
— STURGIS' DEFEAT IN NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI — BATTLE AT KENE- 
SAW MOUNTAIN — JOHNSTON FALLS BACK TO SMYRNA CAMP-MEET- 
ING GROUND — THOMAS IN PURSUIT — JOHNSTON TAKES POSITION AT 
PEACH-TREE CREEK — ROUSSEAU INTERRUPTS JOHNSTON'S COMMU- 
NICATIONS-SHERMAN AGAIN ON THE OFFENSIVE — JOHNSTON RE- 
LIEVED BY HOOD — JOHNSTON'S ABILITIES. 

In accepting the grade of Lieutenant-General, and with it 
the immediate direction of the Army of the Potomac, Grant 
did not in any way neglect the more important and compre- 
hensive duties of his new office. His first care was to secure 
for the command of the various armies, military departments 
and divisions. Generals who would work harmoniously and 
in support of himself and each other ; and his next, to devise 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 2G7 

such a general plan of operations as would compel them all 
to do some specific good towards accomplishing the general 
result to be obtained. The war had hitherto been conducted 
upon no well established or proper principle. Each General 
had been assigned to an extended bailiwick, with an uncertain 
number of soldiers, and although he had been left with few 
or no instructions, much had been expected of him. AVhen 
Grant assumed command of the armies of the United States, 
the loyal troops occupying the insurgent territory, were di- 
vided into twelve distinct department commands, with many 
minor districts, more or less independent of each other, — the 
troops in which were acting under no general system pointing 
to the accomplishment of well-defined military results'. The 
diflferent commanders knew that the rebellion must be put 
down, and that the Government would reward successful 
military operations ; but notwithstanding the fact that the 
President upon more than one occasion had issued his orders 
directing a simultaneous movement upon the enemy by all the 
armies, the military organization was too cumbrous to admit 
of eflTective working. The team was not only balky, but 
badly hitched, and hence one or two of the best horses were 
doing all the work. It will be remembered that Grant rec- 
ommended the consolidation of departments and armies before 
the beginning of the Vicksburg campaign, and that nine 
months thereafter, the Military Division of the Mississippi 
was established. On his accession to the command of all 
the armies, he designated Sherman to succeed him in the 
command of that military division, adding to it the Depart- 
ment of Arkansas. It has been seen how he consolidated 
four departments in the Virginia region into the Middle Mili- 
tary Division, and placed it under Sheridan. As Sherman 
collected his forces and began to operate south-eastward from 
Chattanooga, a new consolidation of departments took place on 
the lower Mississippi and the Gulf coast under the title of the 
Military Division of West Mississippi, with General Canby 
in command. By these means widely separated regions and 
armies were brought into the general plan ; great power was 



268 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

committed to the hands of able and judicious commanders, 
acting under the instructions of a clear-headed and far-seeing 
generalissimo and decided and concentrated action followed 
throughout the seat of war, bringing down by the terrible 
onset of 700,000 patriots, in a few months, the well-founded 
and closely compacted fabric of the slave-holders' rebellion. 

The generalship displayed in this wonderful concentration 
of effort and in the unerring direction given to the national 
armed forces towards the vital points of the hostile territory, 
show strategic skill seldom surpassed, coupled with a depth 
and breadth of comprehension sustained by a high moral 
courage capable of the greatest resolutions. In bringing the 
Government to the adoption of such radical measures, Grant 
displayed all the tact and sagacity of the profoundest states- 
manship, and it is doubtful if in the history of the world so 
much power was ever entrusted by a civilized state to the 
hands of a citizen, with less hesitation or doubt, while it 
is certain that such power was never so virtuously and un- 
selfishly wielded. Grant, standing at the head of nearly a 
million of armed men, held the unlimited sway of a dictator, 
and yet he never for an instant forgot that he was as far be- 
low the law of the land as the most obscure private in the 
ranks. If the Government ever entertained a doubt of his 
fidelity, or a shadow of jealousy at his success it is not 
known ; ^nd this is a circumstance as creditable to the Gen- 
eral as it is to the President and his Cabinet. 

It is not within the limits of this work to give the details 
of the correspondence and orders by which Grant carried his 
plans into effect, nor even of the operations which resulted 
therefrom, but enough of both will be mentioned to show 
that the success of the national cause was due to the unlim- 
ited control which he exercised in the selection of subordinate 
commanders, and in directing their movements against the 
armed forces of the enemy in accordance with the true prin- 
ciples of warfare. As a matter of course, the patriotism, 
liberality, courage and civic virtue of the people were the 
underlying and primary cause of our success, but they were 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 269 

powerless until guided and controlled by a leader of and from 
themselves, who comprehended the magnitude of the task 
assigned him, and was capable of proceeding to its execu- 
tion fearlessly and confidently. 

As soon as Vicksburg had fallen, and complete control had 
been re-established over the Mississippi throughout its entire 
length. Grant expressed the opinion that no offensive military 
operations should be undertaken to the westward of that 
stream, but that we should content ourselves with holding 
the river and adjacent territory already conquered, while the 
entire force, at the disposal of the Government, should be 
directed to military operations eastward. He believed that 
that part of the rebellion, lying on the trans-Mississippi 
region, would die "of its own accord like the tail of a snake, 
whose head and body had been severed from it, and therefore 
held that operations into that country were not only useless, 
but positively injurious to our cause, inasmuch as they car- 
ried our forces into distant regions, where they could neither 
be supported nor rapidly re-enforced, and where even if suc- 
cessful, they could render no valuable assistance against the 
head and front of the rebellion. For these reasons he op- 
posed the Red River expedition under Banks, and urged the 
Government to send that officer against Mobile instead, with 
orders to co-operate with Sherman in his operations towards 
the interior of Alabama. Not having been called to the com- 
mand of the armies when the Red River expedition was or- 
ganized and put on foot, his counsel did not prevail, and 
although he authorized Sherman to send 10,000 of his best' 
men, under General A. J. Smith, by transports, to take part 
in it, and directed him to order Steele with the available 
troops in the Department of Arkansas, to move overland 
towards Shreveport, the objective point of the campaign, he 
lost no time after he became Lieutenant-General, in with- 
drawing these armies to the Mi-ssissippi, and in sending all 
the men from them that could be spared to carry out the 
plan, suggested after the ffill of Vicksburg. It is to be re- 
gretted that he was not free to do this sooner, for he would 



270 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

not only have averted the defeat w^hlch was incurred at 
Pleasant Hill and Sabine Cross-roads, but would have has- 
tened by several months the fall of Mobile, and probably 
that of the Confederacy itself. 

When Grant was called to Washington, he telegraphed for 
Sherman, then at Memphis, to meet him at Nashville, and in 
order to confer more fully with him in regard to the general 
plan of operations, requested that officer to accompany him 
to Cincinnati. During this interview, it was decided that 
Sherman should concentrate at Chattanooga, the bulk of his 
widely scattered forces, and move against the rebels under 
Joseph E. Johnston, then at Dalton, for the purpose of breaking 
up his army and penetrating to Atlanta, and thence operating 
towards the sea-coast in whatever direction might be found 
most advantageous, with the view of again severing the Coii- 
federacy, and enabling the national commanders to concen- 
trate in overwhelming numbers against the fragments of the 
insurgent forces. As we have before stated, the first idea of 
this campaign, so far as known, was developed at General 
Grant's head-quarters in Nashville, during the preceding 
January, at a time when it was supposed he would have 
command in person of the Military Division of the Missis- 
sippi. It was now committed to Sherman, the most trusted 
of his lieutenants, and hence the details of the plan were 
left to the arrangement of that officer, in all matters, except 
the time of starting. The Lieutenant-General fixed this so 
as to make the movement simultaneous with his own from the 
Eapidan, with the object of keeping the enemy so busily en- 
gaged at every point of attack along his extended frontier, 
that he could not afford to withdraw re-enforcements from 
any part, for the purpose of concentrating heavily against 
either of the advancing armies. 

Sherman's command embracing the great central belt of 
country lying between the Alleghanies and the western borders 
of Arkansas, and extending southward and eastward as far as 
he could carry his victorious standards, included nearly the j 
entire theatre of war from Savannah to Vicksburo-. A large 



i 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 271 

force had already been concentrated by General Grant at 
Chattanooga," but a greater concentration yet was to take 
place. It was wisely judged that the territory bordering on 
the Mississippi could be stripped almost entirely of the force 
which had hitherto been engaged in holding it and protecting 
.the navigation of the river, provided an active campaign 
should be conducted from Chattanooga, and the lower part 
of the great Tennessee Valley. Sherman therefore directed 
McPherson, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, to con- 
centrate all the available men of his army for active duty at 
Huntsville, leaving General Hujrlbut with the remainder of 
the force to operate against Forrest in West Tennessee and 
Northern Mississippi. 

General Grant, displeased with operations in East Tennes- 
see during the winter, had solicited and obtained the assign- 
ment of General Schofield, an officer of sound judgment, to 
the command of the army in that region. Burnside's corps 
was relieved at the same time, and ordered to Annapolis. 
Sherman's first duty was to concentrate his army, and his 
next to provide for supplying it with the means of subsist- 
ence. It will be remembered that Grant had devoted much 
care and attention to perfecting the operation of the railroads 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, but in view of the greatly in- 
creased forces to be supplied, Sherman had much to accom- 
plish in that direction before his army could take the field in 
the sterile region of Northern Georgia. But bending him- 
self with great activity to the multifarious duties of his 
position, he soon instilled his own energy into the adminis- 
tration of every department connected with his army. By 
the 1st of May, he had concentrated a force of 98,787 men, 
and 254 guns, well supplied, thoroughly equipped, well or- 
ganized and ably commanded, with which to undertake the 
task assigned him. Promptly at the time designated by 
Grant for the general advance, he moved forward, and on the 
6th of May his forces were distributed as follows : The Army 
of the Cumberland, General George H. Thomas command- 
ing, consisting of the Fourth, Fourteenth, and Twentieth 



272 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

corps under Howard, Palmer, and Hooker respectively, held 
positions near Ringgold on the railroad. The Army of the 
Tennessee, General McPherson commanding, consisting of 
the Fifteenth, and parts of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth 
corps, commanded respectively by Logan, Dodge and Blair, 
was near Gordon's Mill on Chickamauga Creek ; while Scho- 
field, with the Array of the Ohio, consisting of a part of the 
Twenty-third corps, and a division of cavalry under Stone- 
man, had moved down from East Tennessee to Red Clay, at 
or near the Georgia line, just north of Dalton.* 

General Johnston, with %n army of between 50,000 and 
60,000 effectives, divided into three corps under Hardee, Polk 
and Hood, with a division of Georgia State troops under G. 
W. Smith, and a corps of cavalry under "Wheeler lay at Dal- 
ton, holding a strongly fortified position on an outlying spur 
of the Alleghanies, known as Rocky Face Ridge, with his 
principal force at Buzzard Roost Gap. 

The country lying between Chattanooga and Atlanta is 
broken up by mountain ridges, alternating with deep ravines 
and rapid streams, and is more difficult, if possible, than the 
country between Washington and Richmond. It is generally 
covered with a heavy growth of timber, broken only at rare 
intervals by farms and villages. The roads are of the most 
primitive sort, and during the rainy season become almost 
entirely impassable. Atlanta, the principal town in North- 
ern Georgia, at that time contained a population of about 
20,000, and being situated at the crossing of several rail- 
roads, the rebels had made it a point for the manufacture 
and distribution of military stores of all kinds. Recognizing 
its strategic importance, they had fortified it strongly in 

* General Sherman's forces were divided as follows : 

Army of the Cumberland, Army of the Tennessee. Army of the Ohio. 

Infantry, 54,568 22,437 11,183 

Artillery, 2,377 1,404 679 

Cavalry, 3,828 624 1,697 

Total, . . . 60,773 24,465 13,659 

Guns, 130 96 28 

Grand aggregate of troops, 98,797 ; guns, 254. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 273 

1863, and were now prepared to struggle manfully for its 
defense. 

The position of the enemy at Eocky Face, was found to be 
too strong to be carried by direct attack ; Sherman, therefore 
directed Thomas to occupy Tunnel Hill, a few miles in ad- 
vance, which he did with but slight opposition, and then to 
demonstrate strongly in front of the enemy along Rocky Face 
and particularly at Buzzard Roost. Schofield was ordered to 
move down from Red Clay, as closely as possible to Dalton, 
while McPherson was to turn the enemy's position by mov- 
ing through Ship's Gap, Villanow, and Snake Creek Gap, 
to Resaca on the railroad eighteen miles behind Johnston. 
Thomas carried out his part of the programme in handsome 
style, on the 9th of May. Newton's division of Howard's 
corps, made a lodgment on Rocky Face Ridge after a gallant 
fight, and turning to the right tried to reach the gap, but 
finding the crest quite narrow as well as strongly defended by 
the rebels, they were compelled to desist. Geary's division of 
Hooker's corps advanced at the same time, but failed to reach 
the summit. McPherson got within striking distance of the 
railroad in good time, on the 9th, driving a brigade of rebel 
cavalry from Snake Creek Gap, but fearing that Johnston 
might fall upon his flank and rear, he was unwilling to hazard 
an attack against the rebel works at Resaca, and therefore 
withdrew towards Snake Creek Gap, where he took up a 
strong position. But this flank march had startled Johnston, 
and although Sherman was chagrined at the failure of the 
well-planned movement against Resaca, he hastened to re-en- 
force it at the earliest hour by sending Thomas with Hooker's 
and Palmer's corps, followed closely by Schofield, while How- 
ard was left with his own corps and the cavalry to keep up 
the demonstration against Buzzard Roost ; but Johnston now 
evacuated that place and fell back rapidly towards the new 
position which he had prepared near Resaca. 

On the 12th, the whole army, with the exception of How- 
ard's corps, assembled at Snake Creek Gap, and pushed for- 
ward at once, McPherson covered by Kilpatrick's division of 
18 



274 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

cavalry, in advance, on the direct road to Resaca, while 
Thomas moved to the left of McPherson, followed again by 
Schofield. Kilpatrick drove Wheeler's rebel horse steadily 
back to within two miles of Resaca, where he was wounded, 
and compelled to leave the field, turning his command over 
to Colonel Murray his next in rank. At this junction 
McPherson's advance pushed forward, and relieved the cav- 
alry, driving the rebels beyond Camp Creek and into the line 
of works covering Resaca and the great bend of the Oosten- 
aula River. Johnston had already got there having marched 
rapidly and by the best road in that region, while Sherman's 
army was compelled to pursue a devious mountain route, 
over roads nearly as bad as roads could be. Sherman lost 
no time in enveloping the rebel works. Thomas was thrown 
forward into position on the left of McPherson ; Schofield 
pushed through the entangled forest to Thomas' left, while 
Howard marched down the main road from Dalton. Sher- , 
man also directed McPherson to throw a bridge across the I 
Oostenaula at Lay's Ferry, below Resaca, and to send | 
Sweeney's division of the Sixteenth corps to threaten Cal- I 
houn, a point still further in Johnston's rear. To give this | 
movement greater effect, Garrard's division of cavalry was j 
ordered to march from Villanow towards Rome, for the pur- 
pose of crossing the Oostenaula and swinging into the rail- 
road between Calhoun and Kingston. 

While these strategical movements were in the process of 
execution, McPherson succeeded in crossing Camp Creek 
near its mouth, and driving the rebels under Polk from the 
commanding ridge, which they held, back to their inner line 
of works. Thomas at the same time pressed close into the 
Creek Valley, farther to the left, and threw Hooker's corps 
across its head to the Dalton road down which he moved till 
he had also closed in on the enemy's lines. By the evening 
of the 14th, after a good deal of desultory skirmishing and 
some sharp fighting, Sherman's forces were all in position and 
on the next day moved to the attack. A heavy battle ensued, j t 
without much advantage to any part of the Union army ex- 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES 8. GRANT. 275 

cept that under Hooker, who drove the rebels from the hills 
in his front, capturing four guns and a considerable number 
of prisoners. Finding that his position was no longer tenable, 
Johnston evacuated it during the night and fell back rapidly 
towards Adairsville, where he prepared to make a stand. 
The next day Thomas followed close upon his heels by the 
main road through Resaca, skirmishing with Hardee, who had 
been left to cover the retreat. After crossing the river, Jeff. 
C. Davis' division was sent to Rome, which place it captured, 
taking ten large guns, and many stores, besides destroying a 
number of mills and much valuable property. 

Leaving a small force to garrison the place, Davis pushed 
on to rejoin the army. Schofield struggled through the 
country to the left of Thomas, making roads, or following 
such trails as promised to lead him in the right direction. 
McPherson crossed the Oostenaula at Lay's Ferry, and joined 
in the pursuit with all the speed that could be made in the 
difficult region through which he marched. Thomas' advance 
under Newton, came up with the enemy at Adairsville, where 
a sharp skirmish ensued, but before dispositions for the attack 
were completed, Johnston again fell back, covering his rear 
skillfully, and taking up a strong position about Cassville, 
whither our army pursued him, marching by the way of 
Kingston. The indications at this place were strongly in 
favor of a general battle ; but as the Union army concen- 
trated for the attack, Johnston acting under the advice of 
Hood and Polk, though against that of Hardee, abandoned 
the ground which he had chosen, and fell behind the Etowah, 
holding Allatoona pass, to cover his future movements. He 
afterwards regretted this step, but it was too late to change his 
mind. Sherman, without an hour's hesitation, determined to 
cross the Etowah and turn the position at Allatoona ; after pro- 
viding his entire army with twenty days' rations, he cut loose 
from the railroad, and directed his columns on Dallas, whither 
he had already ordered Davis to move from Rome. Thomas 
marched by the direct road through Burnt Hickory to that 
place ; McPherson passed still further to the right through 



276 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Van "Wert, intending to come in on Thomas' right, while 
Schofield, taking a somewhat more direct line, was expected 
to take position on Thomas' left ; but Johnston seemed to 
divine the plan, and interposed his left strongly at New Hope 
Church. On the 25th of May, General Hooker, leading 
Thomas' column, encountered Jackson's rebel cavalry on 
Pumpkin-vine Creek, but brushing them rapidly out of the 
way, he pushed across the creek, saving the bridges which 
had been set on fire, and about two miles further on came up 
with the outlying pickets of Hood's corps. These were at- 
tacked by Geary, and driven back to the main rebel line. 
The rest of Hooker's troops, moving on other roads, did 
not get up till late in the afternoon, when General Sherman 
ordered Hooker to attack with his whole corps for the purpose 
of getting possession of the junction of the roads radiating 
from New Hope Church. The troops assaulted boldly and 
vehemently, but the rebel works were too strong and too well 
manned by Stewart's division to be captured. Hooker's 
loss was considerable. The next morning McPherson moved 
through Dallas, and deployed in front of the position at New 
Hope Church, while Schofield was directed to the left with 
the expectation of overlapping and turning the hostile right. 
Garrard's division of cavalry operated on the right flank of 
the army, and Stoneman on the left. 

Owing to the dense forests, and the difficulty of finding or 
making proper roads, much time was lost in working the 
army into position, and much skirmishing with some heavy 
fighting took place, during which Sherman decided to work 
in towards the railroad, striking it south-east of Ackworth. 
While he was in the act of moving in that direction, the rebels 
took advantage of the opportunity to strike at McPherson, 
then fortified in front of Dallas ; they made a determined at- 
tack upon his works, but met with a bloody repulse. After 
this several days of inactivity intervened, when Sherman 
began again to extend his left by moving Thomas towards 
the railroad four or five miles, gradually closing Schofield 
and McPherson in the same direction, thus covering all the 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 277 

roads leading back to Allatoona and Ackworth. This was 
done on the 1st of June, and was at once followed by a cav- 
alry movement upon Allatoona, front and rear, resulting in its 
capture. Sherman was now relieved of apprehension for his 
communications, and enabled to take measures at once for 
the reconstruction of the railroad bridge across the Etowah, 
a few miles to the rear, and for the establishment of a second- 
ary base of supplies at Allatoona. He did not suspend his 
movements however, but continued to work to the left, now 
menacing the right and rear of the rebel lines, and now 
threatening to push entirely beyond and throw them from 
their line of retreat towai'ds Atlanta. Johnston was not slow 
to conform to Sherman's movement, but anticipated him in 
most cases with ready address ; planting his army in well 
selected positions, and holding it compact and alert in the 
roads along which his adversary wished to advance. 

On the morning of the 5th, he held a strong position with 
his left at Lost Mountain and his right near the railroad, 
covering the roads to Atlanta. On the 7th, he fell back, 
taking up a position behind Noonday Creek, with his right 
extended to the Ackworth and Marietta Road. On the 8th 
of June, Sherman was re-enforced by Blair with two divis- 
ions of the Seventeenth corps, and Long's brigade of cavalry, 
belonging to Garrard's division, thus bringing the, army up to 
its original numbers, notwithstanding the killed and wounded 
and the detachments left at Rome, Kingston and Allatoona. 
As the rebels fell back they destroyed the railroad, compel- 
ling Sherman to weaken and delay himself by detachments 
for its repair. Johnston showed himself during this time 
and in fact throughout the entire campaign to be a ready 
strategist, and a careful painstaking General, always dis- 
covering the intentions of his adversary in time to prevent 
disaster and covering his own movements with consummate 
skill. Skirmishing was a matter of hourly occurrence, but 
neither General seemed willing to bring on an engagement 
till there was a good opportunity for striking a vital blow. 
On the 9th of June, havinsr re-established his communica- 



278 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

tlons and brought forward an abundance of supplies Slier- 
man moved to Big Shanty ; meanwliile the enemy fell back 
to Pine, Lost, and Kenesaw Mountains, covering Marietta 
and the railroad as far as the Chattahoochee Eiver. 

Hardee's corps held the left of the hostile line, resting on 
Lost Mountain ; Polk, the center, thrown to the front on Pine 
Mountain, while Hood, resting on Kenesaw covered the roads 
to Marietta. Sherman pressed forward to break the rebel 
lines between Pine Mountain and Kenesaw, but before the 
attack could be made, Johnston drew back his center to the 
rugged ridge joining Lost Mountain and Kenesaw, where he 
strongly fortified himself and prepared to make a determined 
resistance. During this operation, General Polk was killed, 
and was succeeded in the command of his corps, by Lovell. 
The weather was rainy and disagreeable, and hence the roads 
became so bad that the army could scarcely get forward, still 
it did not falter, but kept pressing close upon the rebel lines. 
On the 11th, Sherman telegraphed to Washington : "I will 
proceed with due caution, and try to make no mistake," ad- 
ding, " one of my chief objects being to give full employment 
to Joe Johnston, it makes but little difference where he is, so 
he is not on his way to Virginia." On the 13th, he tele- 
graphed : " As soon as possible, I will study Johnston's 
position on Kenesaw and Lost INIountalns, and adopt some 
plan to dislodge him, or draw him out of his position. We 
can not risk the heavy losses of an assault, at this distance 
from our base. Cars now come to our very front camp. All 
well." 

On the 14th, he informed Mr. Stanton that he had received 
news of the defeat of Sturgis, sent out specially from Mem- 
phis to hold Forrest, and to keep him off the Chattanooga 
railroad ; that he had ordered A. J. Smith to be sent after 
Forrest, and then prepared to move forward, but owing to 
the elevated position of the enemy could make no movement, 
not plainly in his view, except under cover of darkness. 
McPherson held the left, Thomas the center and Schofield 
the right on the old Sandtown Road, pressing well around on 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 279 

the rebel flank, to counteract which Hood was withdrawn 
from McPherson's front and thrown to the left confronting 
Schofield. On the 22d, Hooker and Schofield advanced 
their lines beyond the Kulp House, when the rebels sallied 
from their work, striking Williams' division and Hascall's 
brigade, driving them back upon the main line, and involving 
themselves In a terrible battle, in which they were badly 
beaten, leaving many killed and wounded in the hands of the 
Union soldiery. By this time Sherman had gained a thorough 
"knowledge of the enemy's position, and although it was found 
to be as strong as It could well be made both by natural and 
artificial defences, he determined to venture upon an assault 
in the hope of breaking through the left center, and reaching 
Marietta soon enough to fall upon and destroy the rebel right. 
He issued his orders accordingly, but owing to the continued 
rains and bad roads. It was not until the 27th, that the troops 
could be got Into position to carry them into effect. 

On that day the assaults were made at points about a mile 
apart, by McPherson and Thomas, but failed, notwithstand- 
ing the gallantry displayed by both officers and men. It cost 
the national troops heavily In killed and wounded, including 
Generals D. McCook and Harker, both officers of fine prom- 
ise, and the latter already greatly distinguished for gallantry 
and good management at Stone River, Chickamauga, and 
Chattanooga. The rebel loss did not probably exceed 600 
men, while Sherman's was not far from 3,000. In his official 
report, Sherman frankly says : " Failure as it was, and for 
which I assume the entire responsibility, I yet claim it pro- 
duced good fruits, as It demonstrated to Johnston that I would 
assault, and that boldly ; and we also gained and held ground 
so close to the enemy's parapets, that he could not show a 
head above them." The justification Is hardly admissible, 
but the assumption of the blame is entirely worthy of com- 
mendation. 

The armies remained in their relative positions till the 2d of 
July, at which time McPherson drew out of his works in front 
of Kenesaw, leaving them to be held by Garrard's dismounted 



280 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

cavalry, and in pursuance of Sherman's instructions, moved 
by his riglit flank towards Nickajack Creek and the Chatta- 
hoochee by the Turner's Ferry road. In this movement his 
right was covered by a corresponding movement of Stone- 
man's cavalry, which struck the river below Turner's. John- 
ston discovering the movement, and fearing for his left and 
rear, fell back to Smyrna camp-meeting ground, five miles 
south-west of Marietta. In this position his flanks were pro- 
tected by Nickajack and Rottenwood Creeks, and his lines 
covered the approaches to a strong tete-de-pont which he had 
constructed in anticipation of a possible crossing of the Chat- 
tahoochee. On the morning of the 3d, Thomas moved by his 
left flank to the railroad and then turned the head of his col- 
umns southward in pursuit. Logan's corps of the Army of 
the Tennessee, was sent to take possession of Marietta, while 
McPherson and Schofield pushed across Nickajack, turning 
the left of the rebel position, and intending to fall upon them 
while crossing the river, but Johnston had provided for such 
a contingency, and withdrawing his army into the tete-de-pont^ 
held his ground till forced by other combinations to abandon 
it. Logan was now directed to leave a small force at IVIarietta, 
and to push forward and rejoin McPherson ; Thomas, also, 
marched to the river skirmishing heavily with the rebels, 
while Sherman pushed to the front in person, and finding 
that the rebel General held a strongly fortified position cover- 
ing the railroad and pontoon bridges, he did not think it safe 
to hazard a direct attack, and therefore decided to iiiake a 
new turning movement. 

Withdrawing Schofield from his position in reserve, he or- 
dered him to march by the Smyrna camp-ground road to 
the mouth of Soap Creek, and to make a lodgment from that 
place on the south side of the river. This was done with 
great skill and precision, while Garrard was sent to secure 
the ford at Eoswell, as well as to destroy the cloth factories 
established at that place. Thomas then directed Newton's 
division to the same point, whither it Avas followed rapidly by 
Dodge's corps, and soon after by McPherson's entire army. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 281 

Howard was sent to Power's Ferrj, two miles below Scho- 
field, and by the evening of the 9th, Sherman had secured 
three points of passage, had built bridges, and united the 
most of his force on the south side of the Chattahoochee. 
Johnston had distributed his cavalry under Wheeler and 
Jackson, to watch the river for twenty miles above and below, 
and was therefore kept informed of all that took place on 
either flank. On the night of the 9th, he withdrew his army 
to the south side of the river, going into position again be- 
hind Peach-tree Creek, with his left resting on the river, and 
his right extended well out to cover the approaches to Atlanta 
now only five or six miles in his rear. He set his engineers 
and a large force of negroes to work on the fortifications, and 
prepared as well as circumstances would permit, for the crisis 
about to burst upon him. 

He had doubtless managed hia campaign defensively, with 
great skill, but had lost according to his own accounts, 10,000 
killed and wounded, and 4,700 prisoners,* besides the crops 
of grain in the region north of Atlanta, and the extensive 
manufacturing establishments at Etowah, Rome, and Roswell. 
The campaign had now reached that point, at which both 
leaders seemed to recognize the necessity of proceeding with 
great caution and certainty. Sherman gave his army rest, 
and passed a week in bringing forward stores, strengthening 
his detachments along the railway, and perfecting the re- 
pairs of the road, his sole dependence for the support of his 
army. 

On the 10th of July, in pursuance of Sherman's instruc- 
tions, Rousseau marched from Decatur on the Tennessee River, 
with a cavalry force of something over 2,000 men, fur the 
purpose of breaking up the railroad to Opelika and Mont- 
gomery, thus interrupting Johnston's communications with 
the South-west. Moving with great celerity, he crossed the 
Coosa at Ten Islands on the 14th, defeating Clanton's brigade, 
and marching thence to Talladega. On the 16th, he struck 
the railroad at Loachapoka, and marched thence to Chehaw 
* " Southern History of the War," vol. ii., p. 348. 



282 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Station, where he again defeated the enemy, and proceeded 
to Opelika, destroying about thirty-two miles of track during 
his march. He then moved to the north-eastward, reaching 
Marietta on the 22d, having lost about thirty men, killed, 
wounded, and missing. 

On the 17th, Sherman resumed the offensive, directing 
Thomas to march by Buckhead, and Schofield by Cross 
Keys, following McPherson who was to march towards 
Decatur east of Atlanta, by the way of Stone IMountain. 
Garrard's cavalry was thrown forward on the left flank of 
McPherson, while Stoneman and McCook continued to watch 
the river and roads west of the railway. These movements 
were intended to operate as a general right wheel of the en- 
tire army, throwing the left flank against Atlanta and its 
eastern communications, while the right wing and centre 
should confront the rebel army an Peach-tree Creek. In this 
order the diflferent columns closed in, converging on Atlanta, 
but in the meantime a change had taken plaee in the opposing 
army. Davis, the rebel President, it seems had now lost all 
confidence in Johnston's generalship and courage, and on the 
17th, suspended him from command and assigned to General 
Hood the duty of fighting and beating Sherman. It can not 
be doubted that in this, Davis committed a grave mistake, 
viewed from a purely military stand-point, for although John- 
ston had not risked a battle with Shernian, he had shown 
himself to be a wily and able antagonist. 

Sherman and many of our best Generals had already 
learned to regard him as the foremost of the Confederate 
leaders. lie had been recognized, from the time of his cam- 
paign against Patterson to his defeat of McClellan on the 
Peninsula, as the exponent of vigorous offensive measures, 
the basis of the true policy for the Confederacy. In all 
situations he had shown great boldness, independence and 
fortitude, and although he never enjoyed the confidence of 
Davis and his party, he was undoubtedly an abler man than 
Davis or any member of his Cabinet, and a better General 
than Lee. He was a better man before the war, a more 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 283 

honest enemy and a better General during it, and has been a 
better citizen since. His successor, General Hood, noted for 
nothing except being a hard fighter and a fair commander of 
a corps, was selected as the exponent of the fighting policy, 
by which he was expected to overwhelm Sherman, and re- 
deem the waning fortunes of the Confederacy. • 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

SHERMAN CLOSING IN UPON ATLANTA — THE GAP IN PALMER'S CORPS — 
RECKLESS ATTACK OF THE REBELS — REPULSE BY HOOKER's CORPS 
— HOOD RETIRES TO DEFENSES OF ATLANTA — THE STRUGGLE UPON 
LEGGETT HILL — THE ATTACK UPON M'PHERSON — DEATH OF M'pHER- 
SON — GARRARD JOINS SHERMAN — HIS DESTRUCTION OF THE RAIL- 
ROAD — HOWARD IN COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE — 
THE ATTACK UPON LOGAX's CORPS — SLOCUM SUCCEEDS HOOKER — 
FAILURE OF THE CAVALRY EXPEDITIONS — STONEMAX's SURREN- 
DER — wheeler's raid — SHERMAN THROWS HIS ARMY ACROSS THE 
WEST POINT RAILROAD — THE ATTACK UPON HOWARD — EVACUA- 
TION OF ATLANTA — RESULTS OF THE CAMPAIGN — HOOD FALLS UPON 
SHERMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS — PREPARES HIS SCHEMES FOR INVAD- 
ING TENNESSEE. 

On the 20th, Sherman's three armies had closed well in 
upon Atlanta, but a gap of considerable extent having been 
left between Schofield and Thomas, the latter was directed to 
send two divisions of Howard's corps to the left, for the 
purpose of establishing close communication with Schofield. 
This disposition had been but partially completed, when the 
rebel leader perceived an opening between Newton's division, 
and Johnson's division of Palmer's corps, and massed a 
heavy force, with which to penetrate the gap, hoping thereby 
to destroy the right of Thomas' army. The attack was 
made at a little past three o'clock in the afternoon, and is 
described by a rebel writer as " one of the most reckless, 
massive, and headlong charges of the war," * gallantly led 
by the divisions of Bate and Walker of Hardee's corps ; and, 
although it caught the national troops somewhat unprepared, 
* " Tollard's Southern History of the War." 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 285 

it was repulsed by Hooker's corps fighting uncovered, aided 
by Newton with fence-rail breastworks, and Johnson who 
had constructed a line of good entrenchments. The rebels 
left upon the field 500 dead, and 1,000 severely wounded, 
besides many prisoners. Their loss could not have been far 
from 5,000 men in all. Sherman's entire loss was only about 
500. Such an offensive did not promise the most flattering 
results, but Hood was not discouraged and determined to try 
his fortune still farther. 

On the night of the 21st, after considerable skirmishing 
throughout the day, he abandorfied the line of Peach.-tree 
Creek, withdrawing to the immediate defenses of Atlanta, 
and was closely followed in the same direction by Sherman's 
entire army; Thomas on the right, Schofield in the center, 
and McPherson on the left. The latter in advancing from 
Decatur, followed the road parallel with the Augusta railway, 
and on the 21st, captured from the enemy a commanding 
eminence, to the south-eastward of the railroad, from the top 
of which he could plainly see into the heart of the city, not 
over two miles distant. Blair's corps (the Seventeenth) was 
ordered to take possession of this hill and fortify it, and in 
order to render its tenure entirely certain, Dodge's corps, 
now in reserve on the right, was ordered to Blair's support. 
It began the movement by a wood road approaching Atlanta 
and running diagonally towards Blair's left. These move- 
ments were in the process of execution, when at about noon 
on the 22d, McPherson found his left and rear suddenly at- 
tacked with great vigor, by the rebels advancing from the 
south-east. Hood had detached Hardee the night before, 
with orders to make a wide detour, and to fall upon McPher- 
son's exposed flank. This march had been silently executed, 
and brought the enemy into position in a most unexpected 
quarter. McPherson's left division had fortunately been 
thrown back in a direction parallel with the railroad line, and 
was thus enabled to make head for awhile against the over- 
whelming onslaught of Hardee. As soon as McPherson 
heard the firing, he galloped in that direction, pushing 



286 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

through the woods to the rear of Blair and Logan, and rode 
towards the railroad evidently expecting to find Dodge, but 
had not gone far before he ran into the rebels, who fired 
upon and killed him. Logan, the next in rank, assumed 
command of the Army of the Tennessee, and was instructed 
by Sherman at once to hold the ground already chosen, par- 
ticularly the Bald Hill which had been captured the evening 
before by Leggett's division. The head of Dodge's column 
had reached a point within a half mile of Leggett's Hill, 
when Hardee began his attack through the intervening space. 
McPherson's last order was to direct Wangelin's brigade of 
the Fifteenth corps to fill this gap, but the troops did not 
reach it in time to stop the rebel advance, though they 
moved at the double-quick. The rebel plan was well laid, 
and had it been as well executed, a great defeat might have 
been inflicted upon our arms. Hood had directed Stewart 
with Polk's corps to attack McPherson in front, while Har- 
dee advanced upon his flank and rear, but fortunately these 
attacks were not made simultaneously. The latter column 
had carried Leggett's Hill, capturing the pioneer company 
engaged in fortifying it, and was pushing on when it was 
checked by Giles Smith's division, now thrown back nearly 
perpendicular to its old line, connecting its right with Leg- 
gett. At the same time Dodge's lines were thrown forward 
and attacked Hardee's right, capturing a number of prison- 
ers and breaking the force of the rebel onset, thus giving 
time to arrange for further defense. A lull now took place 
in the battle, but the rebels continued their movement along 
the Decatur road and railway, and at four o'clock again ad- 
vanced, falling upon an advanced regiment with a section of 
guns, and pushing on, broke through the lines which had 
been somewhat weakened by the withdrawal of a brigade, to 
re-enforce the extreme left. 

Thi^ break separated the two wings of the Fifteenth corps 
entirely, and gave the enemy possession of two batteries. 
At this crisis, Logan, flaming out with the determination of a 
Ney or a Massena, threw the broken corps forward with 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 287 

irresistible vigor, for the purpose of regaining the lost 
ground. The movement was watched by Sherman with 
breathless anxiety, but he was soon gratified by seeing his 
lines re-established and all the guns regained, except two 
which had been withdrawn by the rebels towards Atlanta. 
This was one of the strangest battles of the war, and noth- 
ing but the steady valor of the troops and the good manage- 
ment of Logan and his officers, saved Sherman from a great 
disaster. Logan, Leggett, Giles Smith and Dodge, did all 
that could be done, while maintaining their position, to inflict 
damage upon the enemy. The men of Smith's and Leg- 
gett's divisions were frequently compelled to fight from 
either side of the same entrenchments in rapid succession, 
first driving back Hardee and then jumping the parapets to 
receive the attack of Stewart. But so coolly did they act 
that in no case did they forget to take their prisoners with 
them. In this hazardous work, Colonel Belknap, of the Fif- 
teenth Iowa volunteers, was particularly conspicuous, and 
a hw days afterwards was rewarded for his gallantry by 
the President with the commission of Brigadier General. 
Sherman's losses in killed, wounded and prisoners, were 
3,722 men ; including among the killed the accomplished and 
much beloved McPherson, the trusted friend of both Grant 
and Sherman. The enemy's loss was not far from 8,000, 
killed, wounded and missing, according to the best informa- 
tion which can be obtained. 

On the 23d, Garrard's division joined Sherman, having 
broken the railway towards Atlanta, and destroyed the large 
bridges across the Yellow and the Ulcofauhatchee Elvers. 
This left Hood without any line of railway communication 
except the Macon Road, running into the rich region of 
South-western Georgia. Sherman was determined to destroy 
that road also, and for this purpose he concentrated Stone- 
man's and Garrard's division of cavalry on the left of the 
army, numbering in all about 5,000 eflfective troopers ; at the 
same time he sent Rousseau's cavalry, now under Colonel Har- 
rison, of the Eighth Indiana, to report to General E. ^I. 



288 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

I 
McCook on the right, bringing that officer's command up to 
about 4,000 men. These columns were ordered to march 
respectively by McDonough and FayettevIUe, meeting at 
Lovejoy's Station on the railroad, on the night of the 28th, 
while the Ai-my of the Tennessee, now commanded by How- 
ard, was directed to withdraw from its place on the extreme 
left, and marching by the rear of Schofield and Thomas, to 
swing in behind Atlanta and take position at East Point, the 
junction of the two roads leading to the south and westward. 

Pursuant to this plan, Howard moved his army during the 
26th and 27th, to the extreme right, reaching well around to 
East Point, but while extending in the same direction the 
next day, the rebels under Hardee and Lee, sallied from the 
works about Atlanta, on the Ball's Ferry road, and attacked 
Logan's corps with great fury. But Logan had covered his 
front with the usual breastworks and received the attack with 
coolness, repelling it as often as six times, in each instance 
with great slaughter. The rebel loss was estimated by Logan 
at fully 5000, while his own did not exceed 600. 

On the 1st of August, Hooker feeling aggrieved at the 
promotion of Howard, to the command of the Army of the 
Tennessee, was, at his own request, relieved, and was suc- 
ceeded in the command of his corps by General Slocum ; Pal- 
mer was relieved at his own request, by General Jeff. C. Davis, 
while General D. S. Stanley, succeeded Howard. Logan, 
the only one of these Generals who had any right whatever, 
to feel aggrieved, continued bravely at his post. The in- 
terval between the 28th of July and the 15th of August, 
was passed by Sherman in gradually working towards the 
right. The combined cavalry expedition had proved to be a 
complete failure ; for although McCook reached the road at 
the time and place specified, he had not succeeded in break- 
ing it seriously when he was compelled to desist and with- 
draw towards the South-west, for the purpose of extricating 
his command from the toils now being thrown about it. After 
much hard marching and fighting he succeeded in crossing 
to the north of the Ch!*^ttahoochee and rejoining Sherman, 



LIFE or ULYSSES S. GRANT. 289 

with the loss of 500 men and several valuable officers, includ- 
ing Colonel Harrison, who was taken prisoner. Stoneman 
moved at the appointed time, though not having been joined 
by Garrard as he expected, he did not go to Lovejoy's at all, 
but marching by the way of Covington, Monticello, Hills- 
boro and Clinton, he struck for Macon, which place he ap- 
proached on the 30th of July, but hearing that in anticipation 
of his raid, the prisoners had been removed to North Caro- 
hna, he started to rejoin the army. The rebels had, in the 
meantime, gathered a few scattered mihtia under Armstrong 
and Allen, and by making a great show of numbers, so im- 
posed upon Stoneman as to induce him to surrender that part 
of his command which remained to share such an ignominious 
fate. The brigades of Colonels Adams and Capron cut their 
way through and returned to the army in good time, though 
somewhat jaded and disorganized. The rest mio-ht have 
done likewise had Stoneman made an effort worthy of the 
name to lead them back, or to break through the attenuated 
hues which environed him. 

About the 16 th of August, Hood detached his cavalry 
under Wheeler, to make a raid upon the Union communi- 
cations. Marching around Sherman's left, by the east and 
north, Wheeler struck the railroad at Adairsville, and again 
at Calhoun, capturing in his way nine hundred beef cattle ; 
he then marched to Dalton, where Colonel Leibold held him 
in check, till General Steedman arrived from Chattanooga and 
drove him off in the direction of Athens in East Tennessee, 
where he remained for a short time. He moved thence soon 
afterwards to the north side of the Little Tennessee, crossed 
; the Holston near Strawberry Plains, and continued his march 
towards McMinnville, Murfreesboro, and Franklin in Middle 
, Tennessee. From the latter place he was driven towards 
! Florence by Eousseau, Steedman, and Granger, and finally 
[ effected his escape with but Httle loss, though he succeeded 
I in doing no permanent injury to the railroad lines, and really 
weakened Hood considerably by his absence. Immediately 
after he started, Sherman seized this opportunity to send Kil- 



19 



290 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Patrick with five thousand cavalry to break the West Point 
Railroad near Fairburn, and the Macon lioad at Jonesboro. 
Kilpatrick marched rapidly, and met but little opposition, 
though he did not succeed in damaging the roads seriously. 
All the efforts of the cavalry having failed, Sherman now 
saw that there was nothing left for him but to raise the 
investment of Atlanta, and to throw his entire army across 
its southern communications. He therefore sent the Twenti- 
eth corps, under General Williams, back to the fortified posi- 
tion on the Chattahoochee, and by a series of well executed 
movements, swung his army across the West Point Railroad ; 
Howard above Fairburn, Thomas at Red Oak, and Schofield 
at a point known as " Digs and Minis," still nearer East 
Point. Having eflTectively destroyed the railroad for twelve 
miles and a half, he continued the movement towards the 
Macon Road ; Howard on the extreme right towards Jones- 
boro, Thomas in the center by Shoal Creek Church, and 
Schofield on the left towards Rough and Ready. These 
movements were all progressing favorably on the 31st, when 
S. D. Lee's and Hardee's corps now assembled at Jonesboro, 
marched out and attacked Howard, but that officer having 
encountered some opposition after crossing the head of the 
Flint River, had covered his front by the usual entrenchments, 
and was therefore well prepared to receive attack. After 
two hours of sanguinary fighting the rebels were again re- 
pulsed, leaving two thousand five hundred men killed and 
wounded on the field. Thomas and Schofield having both 
reached the railroad, were ordered to close in towards How- 
ard, breaking the railroad as, they marched northward, for 
the purpose of aiding in a general attack upon the rebels 
now isolated at Jonesboro. Garrard's cavalry was disposed 
so as to interpose between Atlanta and the Union left, while 
Kilpatrick was sent to the extreme right to threaten the road 
below Jonesboro. The next day, about five o'clock p. M., 
Davis assaulted the rebel lines, capturing nearly all of 
Goran's brigade, and eight guns, but the rest of the army, 
owing to the difficult roads, was not within supporting dis- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 291 

tance. The advantages gained could not therefore be pressed, 
and during the night the enemy evacuated both Jonesboro 
and Atlanta. Lee and Hardee fell back to a strong position 
behind Walnut Creek, near Lovejoy's Station, whither they 
were closely followed the next day by Thomas, Howard, 
and Schofield. Stuart retreated from Atlanta towards 
McDonouo-h, while Smith with the militia took the road to 
Covington. 

Having thus maneuvered the enemy out of Atlanta, and 
feeling that it would be impossible to bring him to a stand, or 
to overtake him in that country, Sherman determined to give 
i up the pursuit and to concentrate his army about Atlanta, 
for rest and reorganization. Thomas took post in and around 
that city, Howard at East Point, and Schofield at Decatur. 
Thus, after a campaign of four months, Sherman had 
reached the goal assigned him, and now occupied a position 
in the very heart of the rebel dominions, eating out its richest 
products, intercepting communication, and standing ready to 
push forward with his mighty host towards Virginia, or to the 
Atlantic sea-coast. The great advantage of his victory was, 
however, that it enabled Grant to move Sherman towards 
himself, thus interposing a powerful army between Lee and 
the rebel forces in the South-west, while the rebel railroad 
system should be completely destroyed. With the Army of 
the Potomac investing Petersburg, and Sherman's hundred 
thousand veterans at Atlanta, Grant felt that the days of the 
rebellion were numbered ; for altliough the armed forces of 
the enemy had not yet been destroyed, they had been out- 
generaled, and henceforward, although they might struggle 
1 bravely to retrieve their fallen fortunes, they were destined 
i to gather nothing but the bitter fruits of disappointment. 
Hood concentrated his forces at Palmetto Station, on the 
West Point Railroad, about twenty-five miles from Atlanta, 
; and after confronting Sherman for awhile, reorganized his 
; army under the direction of Beauregard, and threw it to the 
; north side of the Chattahoochee. After some further delay, 
he struck well around Sherman's left, fell upon his communi- 



292 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 

cations, destroying the railroad rapidly, nearly as far up as 
Dalton. Being closely pursued by Sherman, he drew off to 
the westward, and prepared to carry out a mad scheme for 
the invasion of Tennessee, hoping thereby to compel Sherman 
to abandon Atlanta, and to follow him northward. But, it 
will be shown hereafter, that this plan also failed, and materi- 
ally aided in bringing the rebellion to an inglorious end. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Forrest's movements ix northerx Mississippi — defeat of stur- 

GIS — A. J. SMITH moves AGAINST FORREST — BATTLE AT TUPELO — 
FORREST DEFEATED — SMITH WITHDRAWS TO JOIN SHERMAN — FOR- 
REST AGAIN COLLECTS HIS FORCE — CAPTURES MEMPHIS — DRIVEN 
OFF BY GENERAL WASHBURNE — FORREST CAPTURES ATHENS, ALA- 
BAMA — BREAKS THE RAILROAD AT TULLAHOMA — FORREST DRIVEN 
BEYOND THE TENNESSEE — WHAT FORREST MIGHT HAVE ACCOM- 
PLISHED — WILSON ASSIGNED TO COMMAND THE CAVALRY — HE 
ORGANIZES HIS COMMAND — PRICE's INVASION OF MISSOURI — A. J. 
SMITH SENT TO MISSOURI — PRICE ATTACKS PILOT KNOB — HIS MOVE- 
MENT TOWARDS THE KANSAS BORDER — GENERAL CURTIS PREPARES 
TO RECEIVE HIM — PRICE DEFEATED AT BIG BLUE RIVER — CANBY'S 
COMMAND — OBSERVATIONS. 

During Sherman's campaign into Central Georgia, Forrest, 
a bold and skillful leader, occupied Northern Mississippi with 
a large force of rebel cavalry, which had been extremely 
busy in striking at isolated posts along the Mississippi and 
Ohio, and -was evidently waiting for an opportunity to fall 
upon Sherman's communications in Tennessee and Northern 
Geororia. To neutralize this danger, Sherman before beo-in- 
ning his campaign, directed General C. C. Washburne to 
send General Sturgis with the bulk of his forces in "West 
Tennessee to attack the rebels, now known to be gathering 
near the northern border of Mississippi. The contending 
forces met on the 10th of June near Guntown, one hundred 
miles south-east of Memphis. After a sharp fight Sturgis 
was defeated and driven back in confusion to the Mississippi, 
losing his guns and a number of prisoners. Forrest pursued 
with such activity and seemed to be so overjoyed at his sue- 



294 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

cess that he forgot all about Sherman's long lines of railway 
communications, and devoted himself exclusively to plunder- 
ing and galloping over West Tennessee. Shortly after the 
disgraceful termination of this expedition, A. J. Smith arrived 
at Memphis, on his way from the Red River to join the army 
of the center, but before proceeding to Georgia he was di- 
rected by Sherman to take the field against Forrest. In pur- 
suance of this order he moved at once from Memphis with a 
considerable force of infantry, cavalry and artillery, and on 
the 14th of July, came up with the enemy at Tupelo, where 
a battle, continuing throughout most of three days, occurred, 
in which Forrest was wounded and badly beaten. 

The country being destitute of supplies however. Smith 
shortly afterwards withdrew in the direction of Memphis to 
join Sherman, instead of pressing his advantages and ridding 
the country of a terrible scourge. Most of Forrest's troops 
were now ordered elsewhere by the rebel authorities, and 
shortly afterwards he withdrew to Okolona, where he estab- 
lished his head-quarters, and for awhile assumed a defensive 
attitude. During the month of August, he again collected 
his men and pushed rapidly towards Memphis, flanking the 
covering force, and capturing that city, which he held for 
several hours. General Washburne, gathering re-enforce- 
mejits, soon compelled him to retreat again towards Grenada. 
From here he struck north-eastward, and on the 20 th of 
September, crossed the Tennessee River near Waterloo, 
Alabama, marching directly upon Athens, which place he 
captured on the 24th, with 600 prisoners. Soon after the 
surrender, re-cnforcements consisting of two entire regi- 
ments arrived, and after a gallant defense, were also com- 
pelled to lay down their arms. Forrest now devoted him- 
self to breaking up the railroad westward from that place. 
At Sulphur Trestle, he captured another small garrison ; 
and on the 27th, he essayed a movement against Pulaski, 
Tennessee, but was foiled. He then moved against the Chat- 
tanooga and Nashville Railroad, Sherman's principal line 
of supply, breaking it at Tullahoma and Decherd. On 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 295 

the 30th, Buford, with a division of Forrest's command, 
appeared before Huntsville, and demanded the surrender 
of the garrison, but meeting with a denial, after linger- 
ing in that neighborhood for several days, he withdrew 
towards Athens, which had been regarrisoned, and on the 
afternoon of October 1st, and the morning of the 2d, he 
attacked the defences of the place, meeting with a bloody re- 
pulse. Another part of Forrest's command moved northward 
to Columbia and Mount Pleasant. By this time the Union 
commanders in Tennessee had succeeded in collecting a con- 
siderable force and with them drove the raiders rapidly 
beyond the Tennessee. 

These desultory, but vigorous operations on the part of 
Forrest, gave both Grant and Sherman considerable uneasi- 
ness, although they were of a character which gave promise of 
greater damage than was actually inflicted upon the national 
cause. Had Forrest fully appreciated his power, and the fa- 
cility with which he might have reached the single line of rail- 
way at almost any point south of Chattanooga, he could have 
crippled Sherman most seriously if he had not suspended his 
operations entirely. Had the rebel President directed the 
union of Forrest's cavalry with Wheeler's, and authorized 
Johnston or Hood to use these forces, it is difficult to see 
how Sherman with his deficiency in cavalry could have pos- 
sibly maintained his long lines of communication for a single 
day, instead of four months. Such a consolidation of com- 
mands would have given the rebels a force of not less than 
15,000 horse, which in skillful hands could have gone almost 
anywhere within the theatre of operations. Sherman's cav- 
alry, during this entire campaign, was scattered from- Mem- 
phis to Knoxville, and from Louisville to Central Georgia, 
the force with the army rarely ever exceeding 7000 men for 
duty. Having no distinct organization except such as was 
given it by the different army commanders, it could not have 
made head for a single day against the rebels. Grant per- 
ceiving this, as well as the danger which Sherman was run- 
ning, and having learned to appreciate the full value of an 



296 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

efficiently organized and well commanded mounted force, he 
ordered Sheridan to send General Wilson from Virginia, to 
report to Sherman with ample powers to collect, reorganize 
and bring into the field the numerous but widely scattered 
cavalry regiments, belonging to the three armies of the 
^Military Division of the Mississippi. Wilson reported at 
Gaylesville, Alabama, early in October, and after con- 
ferring fully with General Sherman, was assigned to duty 
as Chief of Cavalry, and was placed in unlimited command 
over all the cavalry forces in Tennessee, Kentucky and 
Georgia, amounting to seventy-two regiments. With the 
hearty concurrence of Sherman, these regiments and the 
divisions into which they had been previously formed, were 
withdrawn from the control of the army commanders under 
whom they had previously acted, and wei-e organized into a 
corps consisting of seven divisions and fifteen brigades. The 
best officers that could be found were assigned to their 
command, and every effort Avas made to concentrate, re- 
mount, equip and properly arm this formidable force. The 
success which attended these efforts will be detailed here- 
after. 

Towards the last of August, General Grant received infor- 
mation that General Price with a force of 10,000 men had 
reached Jacksonport, Arkansas, on his way to invade Mis- 
souri, then under the command of General Rosecrans. The 
detachment of the Sixteenth corps which had been operating 
under A. J. Smith in Louisiana and Northern Mississippi, 
was then en route from Memphis to join Sherman. It was 
ordered to Missouri ; a brigade of cavalry under Colonel 
(afterwards Brigadier-General) E. F. Winslow, was also 
ordered to accompany Smith. These forces, it was thought, 
would give Rosecrans such a preponderance, as would enable 
him to destroy Price's army, or, at least, to drive it back, 
while the troops under Steele in Arkansas would attack it in 
rear and cut off its retreat. On the 26th of September, 
Price attacked Pilot Knob and compelled the garrison to re- 
treat towards St. Louis. lie then turned northward, march- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 297 

ing rapidly along the Missouri River towards the Kansas 
border. General Curtis commanding the Department of Kan- 
sas, immediately collected the forces within his reach, and pre- 
pared to repel the invasion by which he was threatened, while 
Rosecrans' cavalr}: , under Pleasanton, was operating in Price's 
rear. The enemy made a stand on the Big Blue River, where 
he was attacked and defeated, with the loss of nearly all his 
artillery and trains, together with many prisoners, after which 
he retreated precipitately to Northern Arkansas. General 
Grant, in his official report of this year's operations, aptly 
says: "The impunity with which Price was enabled to roam 
over the vState of Missouri for a, long time, and the incalcu- 
lable mischief done by him, show to how little purpose a 
superior force may be used. There is na reason why General 
Rosecrans should not have concentrated his forces and beaten 
and driven Price, before the latter reached Pilot Knob." 

As soon as General Grant was informed of the defeat of 
Banks on the Red River, and the paralysis of Steele's co- 
operating campaign in South-western Arkansas, he directed 
General Canby, now in command of the Military Division of 
the AVest Mississippi, to send the Nineteenth corps to join the 
armies operating against Petersburg. It has been shown that 
these troops reached Hampton Roads just in time to be sent 
to Washington, with the Sixth corps, and thence to Sheridan 
in the Valley. Canby was directed " to limit the rest of his 
command to such operations as might be necessary to hold the 
positions and lines of communication he then occupied." 

While charged with the conduct of operations in Virginia, 
it must not be forgotten that General Grant was responsible 
for the general plans, as well as for the unity of military 
policy throughout the entire country; and although he was 
ably seconded in his efforts to secure efficiency of organi- 
zation at all points by the Secretary of War, the unpro- 
fessional reader will scarcely be able to realize the extent of 
the personal influence which he exerted by correspondence 
and otherwise over his numerous and widely separated sub- 
ordinates, nor to appreciate the continued anxiety which he 



298 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

was compelled to undergo, throughout the entire period in 
which he held the supreme command. His correspondence 
during this period took the widest possible range, embracing 
all subjects connected with the conduct of the war, the move- 
ment, supply, support, equipment and organization of armies ; 
his influence was everywhere felt, and always beneficially. 
AVhile the people desponded, and gold rose steadily in value, 
he remained constant in the performance of his duties, and 
confident of the result. The policy of concentration, coupled 
with that of vigorous action, which he introduced, as well as 
the combinations which he made, were characterized by a 
grandeur of conception, and controlled by public considera- 
tions of the highest importance. His aim was to use every 
resource and every armed man of the country for some 
eflfective purpose. The armies were no longer permitted to 
act independently, but were compelled thenceforth to move in 
concert over a vast extent of country, without regard to time 
or seasons. Under the relentless policy of the Lieutenant- 
General, the plan of going into winter quarters had been 
practiced for the last time, and ceaseless activity was hence- 
forth to be the rule. It was no longer feared that the rebels 
could be exasperated to a higher degree of hatred than they 
had already shown for the flag of their fathers. Blow fol- 
lowed blow in quick succession ; their lines of supply and 
communications were wrested from them ; their food-produc- 
ing regions were occupied ; their railroads, store-houses, 
arsenals, foundries, mills and ship-yards, were destroyed ; 
their substance was consumed, and their armies were met at 
every vital point with a courage and efficiency hitherto 
unknown. All the time moving, and all the time drawing 
his lines closer about the visible force which upheld the re- 
bellion, the General-in-Chief knew that by such means he 
nmst ultimately succeed in accomplishing the herculean task 
which had been imposed upon him. He therefore resolutely 
held his way onward, feeling that victory would be cheap 
at any price, and yet exerting himself night and day to gain 
it at the slightest possible cost in blood and treasure. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

STREXGTHEXING OF THE ENTRENCHMENTS IN FRONT OF PETERSBURG 
— EARLY KE-ENFORCED IN THE VALLEY — UNSUCCESSFUL MOVE- 
MENTS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE JAMES — MEADE EXTENDS HIS 
LEFT — WITHDRAWAL OF HANCOCK FROM THE NORTH SIDE — WAR- 
REN's MOVEMENT TOWARDS PETERSBURG — STRIKES THE WELDON 
RAILROAD AND FORTIFIES — REBELS ATTACK WARREN'S LEFT — THE 
AFFAIR AT REAM'S STATION— OPERATIONS OF THE REBEL CAVALRY 
— MOVEMENTS OF THE ARMY OF THE JAMES, UNDER ORD — CAPTURE 
OF FORTS HARRISON AND MORRIS — BIRNEY CAPTURES NEW MARKET 
HEIGHTS — ANOTHER MOVEMENT FOR THE EXTENSION OF THE UNION 
LEFT — ITS FAILURE — OBSERVATIONS — A PERIOD OF INACTIVITY — 
ANOTHER MOVEMENT AGAINST THE SOUTH SIDE RAILROAD — HUM- 
PHREYS MARCHES UPON THE REBEL RIGHT — REBELS ATTACK CRAW- 
FORD — HUMPHREYS ENTRENCHED — REPELS THE ENEMY'S ATTACKS 
— GRANT ABANDONS HIS EFFORT TO REACH THE SOUTH SIDE RAIL- 
ROAD — HIS FUTURE POLICY. 

DuEiNG the entire operations in the Valley, the armies 
investing Petersburg, in consequence of the detachment of 
the Sixth corps and the most of the cavalry, were held 
strictly on the defensive. The greater part of July and 
much of August were spent in strengthening the entrench- 
ments, extending now from the Appomattox east of Peters- 
burg, to the outer flank, resting on the Jerusalem plank-road. 
Extensive and well-constructed siege batteries, and redoubts 
were constructed on the commanding points ; siege artillery 
was brought forward, and a railroad running from City Point 
to the advanced lines, was projected for the purpose of keep- 
ing the troops supplied with rations and ammunition ; it was 
finished on the 12th of September. 



300 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

It has already been stated, that early in August the Lieu- 
tenant-General notified Sheridan that Lee had detached three 
divisions of infantry and one of cavalry from the vicinity of 
Petersburg, for the purpose of re-enforcing Early in the 
Shenandoah Valley. Believing this information to be sub- 
stantially correct, Grant determined to avail himself of the 
opportunity of striking a blow at the rebel force on the north 
side of the James, covering Kichmond ; but knowing that 
such an intention could not be long concealed, after the 
troops, who were to carry it into effect, should begin their 
march, he decided to send Gregg's cavalry and the requisite 
artillery by the pen toon bridge, quietly across the river, and 
to embark Hancock's corps on board the transports at City 
Point, as though he intended to send it to Washington. 
This was done on the 12th of August, and the fleet steamed 
up to Deep Bottom, where Foster's brigade still held an en- 
trenched position, and although much difficulty was experi- 
enced in landing the troops owing to the shallowness of the 
water near the shore, the debarkation was made by nine 
o'clock on the next day. Hancock marched without delay 
by two roads leading towards Richmond, but encountered 
no resistance until he reached Bailey's Creek. Advancing 
Mott's division towards the rebel lines which lay beyond, he 
sent Barlow to the right with two divisions for the purpose 
of turning the rebel left. 

Barlow, however, instead of keeping his force well in hand, 
in compact order, undertook to make his movement, by string- 
ing out his troops and keeping up the connection with Mott ; 
the consequence was, that his formation was too attenuated to 
be effective, and hence the entire day was lost without gain- 
ing any substantial advantage. Birney, still further to the 
right, on the north of Bailey's Creek, succeeded in breaking 
through the hostile force in front of Barlow. Birney captured 
six guns and several hundred prisoners, but darkness inter- 
vening soon after, he was compelled to suspend his advance. 
It is quite certain that when this movement began, the rebel 
force on the north side of the James did not much exceed 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 301 

8000 men, but during the night of the 13th, Lee perceiving 
his peril, recalled a part of the force sent to Early, and rap- 
idly re-enforced his left wing. By morning it was certain 
that all the advantages of the surprise had been lost, and that 
nothing could be gained except by hard fighting or throuo-h 
some unexpected stroke of good fortune. Hancock, however, 
made a new disposition of his forces, and sent Birney to find 
the left of the enemy's line, while Gregg, with the cavalry, 
was directed to conform to Birney's movement; but the 
enemy's works had no left flank short of Richmond, and 
hence nothing was done. The movement was now com- 
pletely checkmated, so far as any chance of success was con- 
cerned. On the 16th, Birney and Terry were directed to 
make a direct attack upon the enemy's works, which was done 
in handsome style, and resulted in breaking the rebel line, 
with the capture of several hundred prisoners. The success 
was, however, short-lived. The rebels soon rallied, and after 
a sharp fight regained their lost position. Gregg supported 
by a brigade of infantry under General Miles, at the same 
time, made a handsome and spirited advance along the Charles 
City road, driving the enemy before him for some distance, 
killing General Chambliss and taking a number of prisoners. 
But Birney's attack having been suspended, the rebels con- 
centrated against Gregg, and drove him after severe fighting 
beyond Deep Creek. 

During the night of the l(3th, a fleet of transports was sent 
up to Deep Bottom, apparently for the purpose of withdraw- 
ing the troops, but really in the hopes that the rebels would 
believe this to be the case, and sally out from their works, 
thus giving Hancock another opportunity to get at them. 
But the ruse did not succeed. The four succeeding days 
were passed in reconnoisances and skirmishing, but without 
any hard fighting, except on the evening of the 28th, at 
which time the rebels made a vigorous attack upon Birney's 
works, but met with a bloody repulse. 

Grant now determined to turn his operations on the north 
side of the river into good account elsewhere. Seeing that 



302 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Lee had weakened his right, covering the railroads south of 
Petersburg, the Lieutenant-General directed Meade to ex- 
tend his left flank rapidly, and strike the Weldon Railroad, 
withdrawing Hancock to his old camps in front of the city. 
"VYarren was charged with the new operation, and began it 
on the morning of the 18th ; and marching by the most 
direct line, he struck the railroad by noon, planting his corps 
firmly across it. Up to this time he had met with no oppo- 
sition, but pushing forward in the direction of Petersburg 
something like a mile, he found the enemy well posted and 
showing a disposition to resist further progress. Warren 
had left Griffin's division at the point whei'C he first struck 
the road, and had formed the divisions of Ayres and Craw- 
ford in line of battle to the front. In this order he had pre- 
pared to advance to the attack, when his left was suddenly 
assailed by the rebels, marching by the Vaughan road. The 
left brigade recoiled in some confusion, but Ayres, a cool and 
practiced soldier, repressed his line so as to conform to the 
rebel advance, and delivering rapid discharges of musketry 
and artillery, checked the rebel onset ; but not until we had 
lost a thousand men in killed, wounded and prisoners. In 
executing this movement, Warren had necessarily been com- 
pelled to separate himself from the rest of the army, and 
fearing that the rebel leader would discover the gap and 
thrust a force into it, thus isolating his position, he ordered 
General Bragg, one of his brigade-commanders, to de})loy his 
brigade as skirmishers on the shortest line connecting the 
right of the Fifth corps with the left of the army near the 
Jerusalem plank-road. 

This order had not been obeyed, when the rebels taking 
the offensive, broke through the interval, turning the right 
of Crawford's division, and sweeping rapidly towards War- 
ren's left, captured 2500 prisoners, including General Hays, 
and compelled the whole line to fall back. Just at the most 
critical moment, the divisions of White and Wilcox belong- 
ing to the Ninth corps reached the ground and moving for- 
ward at once, struck the rebels in flank. Warren, with great 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 303 

spirit, pushed his own men also to the front at the same time. 
The rebels were driven rapidly back in great confusion to 
their own entrenchments. Warren now strengthened his for- 
tifications and arranged them for artillery. At this stage of 
the war, the troops never halted in the neighborhood of the 
enemy without fortifying their front ; and even if brought 
unexpectedly into action, the slightest cessation of fighting 
was devoted to the construction of rail or log entrenchments. 
The men had become such adepts in the art of providing 
cover for themselves that under the most disadvantageous 
circumstances they were never at a loss how to proceed. In 
twenty minutes or a half hour, they could render their posi- 
tion impregnable against a direct attack. The method pur- 
sued was, after selecting the most favorable ground for the 
line along a fence, row, ridge or skirt of wood, to fell trees, 
pile them into rows, and then cover them rapidly with a few 
inches of earth. Such breastworks, slight as they may 
seem, were found to be ample protection against musketry, 
even at the closest range. 

During the night of the 21st, the rebel General massed a 
force in Warren's front, and at early dawn opened a cross-fire 
upon his position with thirty guns. This was kept up for an 
hour or more, and was then followed by a direct attack com- 
bined with a turning movement against the left flank of the 
Fifth corps. But Warren's dispositions were admirable, and 
although the rebel onset was made with unusual vehemence, 
it was readily repulsed, costing him a large number in killed 
and wounded, besides 500 prisoners. Warren's loss from 
the beginning of his movement amounted to 4,455 killed, 
wounded and missing, but the advantages gained were im- 
portant in the highest degree, as they rendered his tenure of 
the railroad entirely stable. 

In the meantime, Hancock had returned from the north 
side of the James, whereupon Grant ordered him on the 21st, 
to move to the railroad at Ream's Station, in rear of War- 
ren's position, for the purpose of destroying the railroad 
southward towards the Notaway River. Gregg's division 



304 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

of cavalry was thrown well out towards DinnwIdJle Court 
House. Hancock executed his orders promptly and without 
serious trouble, breaking up the road as far as Rowanty 
Creek, where Gibbon's division Avas engaged in continuing 
the destruction when Gregg reported the rebels approaching 
in considerable force. 

Plancock therefore concentrated his troops within the forti- 
fications which had been constructed at Ream's Station some 
time before by another corps, and had not long to wait when 
the enemy, under A. P. Hill, fell upon him with great fury. 
Two attacks were made in rapid succession, principally upon 
Miller's division, when a lull took place, during which, Hill 
put his artillery in position and formed Heth's division, 
with the view of carrying Hancock's lines, at whatever cost. 
When his arrangements were completed he opened a con- 
verging and severe fire upon the national works, under cover 
of which, his columns again advanced; this time sweeping 
everything before them. Hancock had only a small force in 
reserve, but could not induce it to throw itself into the 
breach. Gibbon was then ordered to re-establish the line 
and retake the three batteries which had been lost, but his 
men responded with neither alacrity nor vigor. Miles, how- 
ever, succeeded in rallying one of his own regiments and 
leading it in person gallantly to the charge, retook one bat- 
tery and recovered the most of the line. By this time, the 
enemy's dismounted troopers advanced against Gibbon's divis- 
ion, and meeting with but slight resistance drove it easily 
from the works. Attempting to follow up the success, they 
were caught in flank by Gregg, and in turn, compelled to fall 
back. Hancock's troops, upon this occasion, seem to have 
behaved with nothing like their accustomed spirit, for 
although their position was an exposed one, they should 
have held it easily against the assaults made upon them. 
Hancock had sent for aid, but for some reason not suffi- 
ciently explained none reached him. Meade, to whom the 
details of such matters was entrusted, ordered Mott's divis- 
ion of the Second, and Wilcox's of the Ninth, to march 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 305 

towards Eeam's Station, but instead of sending them by the 
raih'oad, they were sent by a roundabout road, double the 
distance that they would have had to march by the most 
direct route.* The affair at Ream's Station, cost us 5 guns, 
and 2,500 men, killed, wounded, and missing, and the rebels 
nearly 2,000. It is noted as being one of the few instances 
during the campaign, in which either party succeeded in car- 
rying lines of rifle-trench and breastwork by a direct attack. 
After nightfall, Hancock, who had fortified a new line near 
the station, abandoned his works and rejoined the army. 
Warren, in the meantime, had made his position impreg- 
nable, and had connected it with the investing lines by a 
well established system of redoubts. A cessation of active 
hostilities for nearly a month followed the severe struggle for 
the railroad, during which, the rebel General sent a cavalry 
force around the left flank of the national army, and by a 
rapid concentration on a weak part of Gregg's long line of 
cavalry pickets, broke through, penetrating to the grazing 
grounds near Coggin's Point, and succeeded in driving off a 
herd of two thousand five hundred beef cattle, before Gregg 
could concentrate a suflScient force to prevent it. 

Active operations were renewed on the 28th of September, 
by a strong demonstration from the Army of the James 
against the rebel works on the north side of the river. This 
movement was entrusted to Ord, who had succeeded Smith 
in command of the Eighteenth corps supported by Birney 
with the Tenth corps, and Kautz's division of cavalry. The 
object of this movement was two-fold, — to surprise that part 
of Lee's lines, and to cause him to weaken his right so that 
the national left might be again extended. The troops des- 
ignated withdrew from their regular camps, and on the night 
of the 28th crossed by the pontoon bridge to Deep Bottom, 
from which place they pushed promptly forward early the 
next morning ; the Eighteenth corps on the left, the Tenth in 
the center, and the cavalry covering the right, directing their 
march on Chapin's Farm covered by Fort Harrison and Fort 
* " Swinton's Army of the Potomac," p. 538. 



306 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Morris. These entrenchments with sixteen guns were car- 
ried, but in pushing forward his victorious troops Ord was 
wounded, and compelled to turn the command over to Gen- 
eral Weitzel. Birney captured New Market Heights, and 
Kautz pushed by the right flank to within three miles of 
Eichmond ; but Fort Gillmer, a strong work next to Fort 
Harrison, was so well defended that every effort to carry 
it was foiled. This necessarily checked the advance, and 
darkness suspended it entirely. The next morning the rebels 
having been re-enforced during the night, determined to re- 
take their lost works ; and under the direction of Field, Hoke 
and Gregg, assaulted Fort Harrison on three sides, but timing 
their advance poorly they were easily repelled, suffering 
heavy loss. A few days later they advanced against Kautz 
on the Charles City road, and after a sharp fight drove him 
back close to the river, capturing 9 guns and 500 prisoners, 
but losing General Gregg, of Texas, in the combat. Butler 
now devoted himself to strengthening his new fortifications, 
and soon put them into condition to defy capture by assault 
or coup de main. These successes on the north side of the 
James had greatly inspirited the army, and as they threatened 
Richmond with much more serious danger than at any time 
previous, Lee lost no time in throwing re-enforcements in that 
direction for its protection. 

Meanwhile Grant caused Warren to make a strong exten- 
sion of his left, now resting at a point two miles west of the 
Weldon Railroad, still farther towards the Southside Rail- 
road. Re-enforced by two divisions of the Ninth corps, now 
under Parke, Warren moved with four divisions of infantry 
and Gregg's cavalry, directly towards Poplar Spring Church 
and Peeble's Farm, while Hancock was to march further to 
the rear, and under cover of Warren's movement, cross 
Hatcher's Run, to the Boydton plank-road, from which he 
was expected to advahce and seize the Southside Road. In 
pursuance of this plan, the movement began, on the morning 
of the 27th of September, but had not proceeded more than 
two and a half or three miles before the enemy ^vas found 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 307 

occupying a strongly entrenched line resting on Hatcher's 
Run. It was found in a short time that this position could 
not be forced by a direct attack, and as had been previously 
arranged, Warren prepared to cross Hatcher's Run and force 
the rebels out by an attack in flank and rear. Hancock 
marching to the south-west by the Vaughan road, struck the 
river lower down, crossed it and pushed forward by Dabney's 
Mill, covered by Gregg's cavalry, to the Boydton road, 
where he intended to turn northward, following the road 
towards Petersburg as far as the White Oak Bridge, from 
which point, if reached, he was to march directly towards 
the Southside Road only about four miles distant. Shortly 
after striking the Boydton road, however, he was directed by 
Meade to halt, on the ground that Parke had not been able 
to carry the works north of the run. As soon as Parke's 
assault had failed, Warren threw Crawford's division and 
Ayres' brigade to the south side of Hatcher's Run and 
directed them to move up the run, with the right of the 
advancing line resting on it while the left should be extended 
well out to connect with Hancock, now between four and 
five miles away. 

Crawford pushed through the pine forest bordering the 
run, with great difficulty. There being no roads, the troops 
became much scattered and some of them entirely lost, but 
after three hours of hard work, they reached a position oppo- 
site to the end of the rebel entrenchments, on the south side 
of the run. Now was the time to press the movement with 
the greatest vigor, but Warren, finding the country entirely 
different from what it had been represented as being, assumed 
the liberty of suspending his own advance, while he re- 
ported to Meade for further orders. The rebels, in the mean- 
time, were not idle, but discerning with admirable judgment, 
the object of Grant's movement, and the probable course that 
it would take, Lee withdrew a force from his entrenchments 
towards the Boydton road, for the purpose of fiilling upon the 
forces already across Hatcher's Run. The interval which 
now separated Crawford and Hancock, was reduced to a 



308 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

little more than a mile. The latter having been notified by 
]\Ieade of Crawford's position, deployed two brigades of Gib- 
bon's division, (temporarily commanded by General Egan,) 
for the purpose of establishing connection between the two 
forces, but this was not accomplished. Lee's plan seems to 
have been to attack Hancock's outer flank, but by a piece 
of o-ood fortune or good management, he changed his mind, 
and in throwing Hill's corps across the run, gave it such a 
direction as to bring it abreast of the unoccupied interval 
between Hancock's right and Crawford's left, but bearing 
more directly upon the flank of Mott's division. The rebel 
leader was ignorant of his great advantage, as he could see 
only a few rods through the tangled growth of scrub pines. 
But advancing to the attack about four o'clock p. m., he 
pushed through the interval, striking Mott's right brigade, 
which it swept back, capturing a section of artillery. 

The next division of Hancock's corps, under Egan, now 
changed front, facing to the southward, and advanced to 
attack the rebels in flank, supported on the one hand by 
McAlister's brigade of Mott's division, and on the other by 
De Trobriand's and Kerwin's brigades. This unexpected 
onset was too much for the rebels, who broke at once and 
fled in the direction from which they had come, leaving their 
two captured guns, with over a thousand prisoners in our 
hands. Had Crawford advanced at the same time, as he 
should have done even without orders. Hill's corps must 
have been entirely routed. The action had nearly ended on 
the right, when Gregg, covering the left, was" violently 
assailed by Hampton with five brigades of cavalry. Han- 
cock promptly re-enforced him and thus enabled him to hold 
his own lines and drive Hampton back, but not till night had 
rendered pursuit entirely out of the question in that region 
of gloom and thick darkness. Ammunition having been 
exhausted, the general movement was suspended and the 
troops withdrawn to their old camps during the night. 

The failure of this day's operations, as usual, has been 
ascribed to the faults of the plan itself, but the candid reader 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 309 

cannot fail to perceive that the movement was in the full tide 
of successful execution when Warren stopped Crawford, and 
Meade stopped Hancock. It is hardly necessary to say that 
this cessation of operations could not have been made at a 
more inopportune time ; for had it been continued an hour 
longer Hancock and Warren must have established connec- 
tion between their lines, and holding a strong position along 
the south side of Hatcher's Run, or vigorously assailing the 
rear of the rebel line, on the north side of it, it is difficult to 
see how the result could have been less fortunate than it was 
and easy to perceive how it might have been made a perfect 
success. In a majority of cases the leader who stops to 
deliberate, even in the presence of an unexpected danger, 
after a movement has been carefully matured and judiciously 
inaugurated, will bring upon himself misfortune and disaster 
if not absolute defeat. The best way uiader such circum- 
stances, is to press forward with increased ardor and energy, 
or to relinquish his plan without a moment's delay. There is 
no axiom in warfare more truthful than this : " Prudence is 
the virtue of prosperity ; audacity that of great emergencies." 

A long period of comparative inactivity now intervened, 
lasting till the spring of 1865, during which, however, no 
opportunity was lost, to annoy the enemy, by striking at his 
weak points, and menacing his exposed lines of communica- 
tion. The armies before Petersburg were allowed to build 
huts and make themselves as comfortable as circumstances 
would permit, but unusual care was taken to, keep them 
constantly on the alert. The investing fortifications were 
strengthened, and by the 7th of February, had been extended 
to Hatcher's Run, while the Weldon Railroad was destroyed 
as far south as Hick's Ford on the Meherrin River. Lee studi- 
ously maintained his defensive attitude. The new extension 
of our lines was preceded by a renewal of the effort to reach 
and turn the rebel right, but for several days before it began, 
a heavy bombardment from all the artillery was kept up, so 
as to distract the enemy's attention. 

On the 5th of February, Warren with the Fifth corps, 



310 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

supported by Major-General Humphreys who had succeeded 
Hancock in the command of the Second corps, began the 
new turning movement. Humphreys was directed to march 
upon the right of the rebel works resting on Hatcher's Eun, 
while AVarren, preceded by Gregg's cavalry division, was 
ordered to cross the run, and fall on the rebel rear. Hum- 
phreys with two divisions marched down the Vaughan road, 
reached the run without any material difficulty, and finding 
only a small force of rebels on the opposite side, he pushed 
De Trobriand's brigade across, dislodging the enemy and 
driving him back. Smith's division closed upon the rebel 
works, and late in the afternoon its right wing was vigorously 
assailed, but succeeded, by the aid of McAlister's brigade, in 
holding its ground. Gregg and Warren marched out the 
Halifax road, and crossed Rowanty Creek, the former reach- 
ing Dinnwiddie Court House, while the latter went into 
position himself on the prolongation of Humphreys' lines 
now well established. 

The next day Wright's and Parke's corps were also moved 
westward, to support the exposed flank. The country in the 
neighborhood of the streams being miry and everywhere 
densely covered with undergrowth, the troops could not get 
forward with rapidity — Gregg, who had returned to the left 
of the infantry was compelled to build corduroy, while 
Crawford was sent by the way of Dabney's INIill to occupy 
the Boydton road. At Dabney's he met Pegram's rebel 
division advancing from the opposite direction to the same 
point. A sanguinary combat ensued which resulted in 
Crawford's success. Pegram was driven back, but being 
strongly re-enforced returned to the attack. Ayres' division 
was sent, and then Wheaton's to strengthen Crawford, but 
before these forces could be united, a rebel turning column 
moving by the Vaughan road, fell upon Gregg and then 
upon Ayres while another force attacked Crawford in front. 
In a short time the national left was completely overthrown, 
but falling back rapidly to Humphreys' position, it reformed 
behind his works, while the exultant rebels pushed heedlessly 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 311 

forward expecting to complete their victory. Humphreys 
had taken the precaution to entrench himself strongly and 
thereby repelled the vigorous but irregular attack with great 
ease. The Union loss in these operations was about 2,000 
men, and that of the rebels quite as great including General 
Pegram. 

This operation put an end to the effort of reaching the 
Southside Road by successive extensions of the Union lines. 
In this respect it was probably a blessing in disguise ; for 
it ultimately forced Grant to adopt the policy of swinging 
boldly into the interior with a force sufficiently powerful to 
make head against any probable opposition. This policy he 
had constantly favored, but was prevented from carrying it 
into effect by a great variety of circumstances, but princi- 
pally by the desire not to resort to such a measure till he 
had concentrated all his available forces and could count upon 
good roads. The complete destruction of the Weldon Rail- 
road to Hick's Ford by Warren in December, forced Lee to 
discontinue his line of wagon communication between the 
northern end of that road and Petersburg, and thereby ren- 
dered it still more difficult for him to keep his army properly 
supplied. 

The siege of Petersburg, which was neither a siege nor 
investment, but a continual menace, was now drawing rapidly 
to a close ; but before proceeding to a description of the 
events which followed, it is necessary to turn for awhile to 
military operations elsewhere. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE MARCH TO THE SEA — ITS ORIGIN — HOOD's MOVEMENT NORTH OF 
ATLANTA — GRANT SUSPECTS HIS INTENTIONS — HIS CONFIDENCE IN 
SHERMAN'S DISPOSITIONS — JEFF. DAVIS' VISIT TO GEORGIA — HIS 
SPEECH — HOOD MARCHES NORTHWARD — TEARS UP THE RAILROAD 
AT BIG SHANTY — SHERMAN PUSHES AFTER HOOD — THE ATTACK 
UPON ALLATOONA — SHERMAN THREATENS THE ENEMY'S REAR — 
HOOD CAPTURES THE GARRISON AT DALTON — HOWARD ATTACKS 
HOOD AT SNAKE CREEK — WILSON SENT TO NASHVILLE — DETAILS — 
SHERMAN CONCENTRATES AT ATLANTA— EXPULSION OF THE INHAB- 
ITANTS — DESTRUCTION OF THE TOWN — FORWARD TO THE SEA — 
ORDER OF THE MARCH — FORAGING — GEORGIA MILITIA — KILPAT- 
RICK'S DASH ON MACON — SKIRMISH AT GORDON — ENGAGEMENT 
WITH wheeler's CAVALRY — THE ARRIVAL BEFORE SAVANNAH — 
PREPARATIONS FOR ITS INVESTMENT — CAPTURE OF FORT m'ALLIS- 
TER — SHERMAN MEETS ADMIRAL DAHLGREN — EVACUATION OF 
SAVANNAH— SHERMAN ANNOUNCES HIS SUCCESS TO THE PRESI- 
DENT — THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SHERMAN'S MARCH — THE REBEL 
MISTAKE — JOHNSTON REINSTATED. 

It has already been stated that, so far as known, the 
march to the sea had its origin in the idea originally dis- 
cussed at General Grant's head-quarters at Nashville, in 
January, 18G4, and this view of the case is borne out by 
the following despatch, sent by the Lieutenant-General to 
General Sherman, from City Point, September the 10th : 

" As soon as your men are properly rested, and preparations can be 
made, it is desirable that another campaign should be commenced. We 
want to keep the enemy continually pressed to the end of the war. If 
we give him no peace while the war lasts, the end can not be far dis- 
tant. Now that we have all of Mobile Bay that is valuable, I do not 
know but it will be the best for Major-General Canh/s troops to act 
upon Savannah whilst yon move on Aurjusta. I should like to hear from 
you, however, on this matter." 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 313 

To this Sherman replied the same day, suggesting a mod- 
ification of the general idea, on account of the difficulty in 
supplying his command ; adding : 

" If I could be sure of finding provisions and ammunition at Augusta 
or Columbus, Ga., I can march to Milledgeville, and compel Hood to 
give up Augusta or Macon, and could then turn on the other. * * If 
you can manage to take the Savannah River as high as Augusta, or 
the Chattahoochee as far up as Columbus, I can sweep the whole State 
of Georgia ; otherwise I would risk our whole army by going too far 
from Atlanta." 

Shortly afterwards Grant replied by letter, in which he 
explained the situation in Virginia, and the proposed move- 
ment against Wilmington. Pie also sent Colonel Porter, a 
trusted staff officer, to confer with Sherman more fully 
than could be done by correspondence. Sherman answered 
by letter as follows : 

" I will therefore give my opinion, that, after you get Wilmington, 
you strike for Savannah and the river ; that Canby be instructed to 
hold the IVIississippi River, and send a force to get Columbus, Ga., either 
by the way of the Alabama or the Appalachicola, and that I keep 
Hood employed and put my army in final order for a march on 
Augusta, Columbia, and Charleston, to be ready as soon as Wilming- 
ton is sealed as to commerce, and the city of Savannah is in our 
possession." 

In the meantime, Ilood commenced his movement against 
the railroads north of Atlanta, and Grant began to suspect his 
real intentions. On the 10th of October, Sherman notified 
him that with Hood, Forrest, and Wheeler, all turned loose, 
" without home or habitation," it would be impossible to pro- 
tect his communications, and therefore proposed to break up 
the railroad to Chattanooga, and " to strike out with wag- 
ons for Milledgeville, Millen, and Savannah." Though he 
seemed to think that Hood, instead of going northward, 
would simply occupy Talledega, and threaten Kingston, 
Bridgeport, and Decatur. 

Grant feeling sure that Hood would not be satisfied with 
this, but would strike for Nashville, was fully impressed with 



314 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the necessity of providing for the defense of the line of the 
Tennessee, but having full confidence in Sherman's disposi- 
tions for the protection of Tennessee, as well as in the 
capacity of Thomas, just before midnight on the 11th of 
October, he issued the necessary authority for the march to 
the sea. " It was the original design," says the Lieutenant- 
General in his official report, " to hold Atlanta, and by get- 
ting through to the coast with a garrison left on the Southern 
railroads leading east and west through Georgia, to eifectually 
sever the East from the West. In other words, to cut the 
would-be-Confederacy in two again as it had been cut once by 
our gaining possession of the Mississippi Eiver." If there 
was any hesitation manifested either by Grant or Sherman in 
reference to this movement, it arose from the menacing atti- 
tude of Hood, and a pardonable anxiety to provide for all 
contingencies likely to follow whatever plan of operation that 
erratic General might adopt. 

Immediately after the fall of Atlanta, Jefferson Davis 
visited Georgia for the purpose of suppressing the move- 
ments then supposed to be in progress under the direction of 
Governor Brown, looking to a disruption of the Confederacy 
and a suspension of hostilities. After attending to this mat- 
ter in the style of a dictator, he made a " hopeful and encour- 
aging " speech at Macon, which he repeated in substance to 
the army under Hood. This speech was remarkable for 
nothing except the frankness with which it made known the 
rebel plan of operations. Davis is reported to have said 
to the Tennessceans of Cheatham's division : " Be of good 
cheer, for within a short while your faces will be turned 
homeward and your feet pressing Tennessee soil ; " and upon 
another occasion to an audience at Augusta: "We must 
march into Tennessee ; there we will draw from 20,000 to 
30,000 men to our standard, and so strengthened we must 
push the enemy back to the Ohio." 

This remarkable declaration was soon followed by the 
commencement of operations against Sherman's communica- 
tions. In the meanwhile, anticipating something of this 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 315 

kind, Sherman sent Wagner's division of the Fourth corps 
and Morgan's division of the Fourteenth corps back to Chat- 
tanooga, and Corse's division of the Fifteenth corps to Rome. 
On the 1st of October, Hood moved westw^ard from Love- 
joy's Station and crossed the Chattahoochee, after which he 
marched rapidly to the north-eastward, striking the raih'oad 
in the vicinity of Big Shanty. Meeting with no opposition, 
he put a large force to work, tearing up and twisting the 
rails, and burning the ties, bridges and trestle-work for many 
miles. Sherman did not suffer this to continue long, but 
leaving Slocum with the Twentieth corps to hold Atlanta, he 
pushed hard after the rebels with the Fourth, Fourteenth, 
Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Twenty-third corps and two 
divisions of cavalry. Fearing that the enemy would fall 
upon Allatoona, his secondary base, and a position of great 
strength he ordered General Corse at Eome with a brigade 
to re-enforce it without delay. Corse arrived there on the 
night of the 4th, and being the senior officer present took 
command. The next morning a detachment of Hood's army 
under General French made a vehement assault upon the 
national works, but were severely repulsed. The gallant 
Corse received a dreadful wound in the face, and many of 
his bravest troops were killed. 

Sherman on reaching Kenesaw from which he could see the 
enemy's movements, pushed the Twenty-third corps to the 
westward, threatening Hood's rear. This caused him to 
withdraw from the neighborhood of Allatoona and making a 
feint towards Rome, he crossed the Coosa eleven miles below. 
Sherman reached Rome on the 11th, and sent Garrard's cav- 
alry and the Twenty-third corps, to the north side of the 
Oostenaula for the purpose of threatening the flank of the 
hostile army, still marching northward rapidly, destroying 
the railroad wherever a ftivorable opportunity presented itself. 
Hood captured the garrison at Dalton, and then withdrew 
to Snake Creek, where he was attacked by Howard, while 
Stanley with the Fourth and Fourteenth corps pushed for- 
ward to o-et in his rear. Percelvino- this movement Hood 



316 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEAXT. 

retreated to Ship's Gap, where he was again attacked ; but 
without waiting to give battle he hurried on to Lafayette and 
finally to Gadsden on the Coosa. On the 19th, Sherman's 
forces were grouped about Gaylesville, at which place they 
remained several days watching the enemy. On the 23d of 
October, Plood moved from his camp on the Coosa River, 
directing his march over Lookout Mountain towards Gun- 
ter's Landing and Decatur on the TennesseCo Near the 
latter place he formed a junction with a portion of General 
Taylor's army which had moved from Central Mississippi by 
the way of Corinth and Tuscumbla. Sherman became fully 
aware of this on the 25th, and having already sent Thomas 
back to Nashville to resume command of his old department, 
he detached the Fourth corps under Stanley and ordered it 
to Chattanooga, to report thence to Thomas. On the 30th, 
he sent Schofield with the Twenty-third corps from Resaca, 
where it had stopped, to the rear with similar instructions. 
"VVilson in the meantime had reached Gaylesville and reported 
to Sherman for the j^urpose of reorganizing and commanding 
the cavalry forces belonging to the Military Division of the 
Mississippi. After receiving full powers, that officer dis- 
mounted the remnant of Garrard's and McCook's divisions 
and turned over the horses thus obtained to Kllpatrick, who 
was directed to accompany the army to the coast with his 
division now amounting to nearly 6000 effective men. 

Wilson was then sent back to Nashville, with all the 
dismounted detachments for the purpose of perfecting the 
organization of his corps, and assisting Thomas In the oper- 
ations against Hood. Sherman instructed him to collect the 
largest possible force, and in case Hood should change his 
mind in reference to the invasion of Tennessee, and should 
follow him towards Savannah, Wilson was then to follow 
also, sweeping well down through Central Alabama and 
Georgia, doing all the damage he could inflict upon the rebel 
cause, and ultimately joining Sherman wherever he might be 
found. If Hood continued his threatened movement north- 
ward, Wilson was in that case to join Thomas, and after 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 317 

assisting in the expulsion of Hood, to carry out the forego- 
ing plan as nearly as circumstances would p'ermit. Having 
spent several nights over his camp fire in carefully arranging 
these details, Sherman completed his arrangements for the 
coming campaign towards the sea-coast. The Army of the 
Tennessee marched to the vicinity of Smyrna camp-ground, 
while the Fourteenth corps moved to Kingston, where it 
remained till the sick and wounded, surplus baggage and 
artillery, together with the garrisons north of that place, 
were sent back to Chattanooga. The railroads and tele- 
graphs radiating from Atlanta, were effectually broken up, 
severing all communications with the North, and on the 14th 
of November, Sherman concentrated his army at Atlanta, 
preparatory to the commencement of his operations east- 
ward. This city had already been converted into a purely 
military town, by the expulsion of its inhabitants, and was 
soon to be reduced to a mass of blackened walls and iso- 
lated chimneys. On the eve of its abandonment, all the 
public buildings, such as depots, machine shops, and manu- 
facturing establishments were committed to the flames, and as 
there was no able-bodied men except the marching soldiery, 
near enough to control the fire, and no suitable fire apparatus, 
the entire town, with the exception of the suburbs and an 
occasional block, was soon in ruins. Eome suffered nearly 
the same fate. 

On the 16th of November, Sherman left Atlanta in com- 
pany with the Fourteenth corps, marching by Sithonia, Cov- 
ington and Shady Grove, directly towards Milledgeville ; 
having already despatched the right wing of the army with 
Kilpatrick's cavalry by the way of Jonesboro and McDon- 
ough, with orders to make a strong feint on Macon, cross- 
ing the Ocmulgee about Planter's Mills, and moving thence 
towards Gordon on the Macon and Savannah Railroad. The 
same day, Slocum, with the left wing, was directed to move 
along the Augusta Railroad to Madison, burning the railway 
bridge across the Oconee, east of that place and then turn- 
ing south to Milledgeville. The different columns were 



318 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

ordered to form a junction at the end of seven days, and dur- 
ing the march to inflict as much injury as they could upon 
the resources of the region which they were traversing. 
The troops were provided with selected trains, well supplied 
with ammunition, and light rations, consisting of coffee, 
sugar, and hard bread, for forty days, with a double allowance 
of salt. A herd of beef cattle was also driven along with 
the trains. The corps commanders were directed to forage 
whenever and wherever desirable articles could be obtained, 
but the different staff departments were charged with seeing 
that this important service should not be allowed to degener- 
ate into promiscuous pillaging. The general order of march 
was admirably drawn, and although much difficulty was 
encountered in crossing rivers, and moving along muddy 
roads, fair progress was made. As has been seen, Ilood 
was far away towards the North-west, and as the Georgia 
militia, although controlled by a powerful array of Gen- 
erals, were by no means the most formidable soldiery sup- 
porting the rebel cause, the Union columns met with no 
material opposition. Kilpatrick made a dash at Macon, and 
succeeded in breaking through the line of works on the 
north-east side of the river, but was soon driven out, and 
proceeded to join the army assembling at Gordon. Near this 
place a sharp skirmish took place on the 22d, between Wal- 
cott's brigade and the Georgia militia, but the enemy was soon 
repulsed and driven back in the direction of Macon. From 
Gordon, Howard and Slocum moved to Sandersville, where 
the advanced guard of the column had a short engagement 
with a part of Wheeler's cavalry. Kilpatrick was thrown 
forward at the same time by the way of Milledgeville to 
Waynesborough, thus covering the left flank of the infantry. 
The rest of the army pursued parallel routes farther to the 
south. In this order, covering a front varying from ten to 
forty miles, Sherman pushed evenly and regularly forward, 
driving the rebels into their works about Savannah, by the 
10th of December. Measures were taken at once to invest 
the city on the south and west sides, while General Ilazen, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEAXT. 319 

commanding the second division of the Fourteenth corps was 
sent to the west side of the Ogeechee, and directed to move 
against Fort McAllister, commanding its entrance into Ossa- 
baw Sound. That place was reached by the 13th of Decem- 
ber, and although fuund to be an enclosed work of great 
strength, it was carried by assault after a brief but sanguin- 
ary struggle ; 150 prisoners and 22 guns were captured. 
Communication was at once opened with the blockading 
squadron under the command of Eear-Admiral Dahlgren. 
A meeting took place between the Admiral and General 
Sherman, when arrangements were made for a co-operative 
attack upon Savannah. 

General Foster, commanding at Port Royal, sent a division 
of troops up Broad River to break the Savannah and Charles- 
ton Railway, and then to move towards Savannah for the 
purpose of completing the investment. After diligent labor 
the arrangements for the assault were completed, but on the 
night of the 21st, Hardee succeeded in evacuating the place 
by crossing to the north side of the Savannah River. Sher- 
man occupied it at once, finding it supplied with 167 pieces 
of artillery and much valuable property. He immediately 
announced his success to the President in the following 
terms : " I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift the city 
of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammuni- 
tion and also about 25,000 bales of cotton." 

The present and in fact the only value of Savannah, was 
mainly as a resting place and the base of future operations. 
The real significance of Sherman's march, was that it effect- 
ually interposed a compact army of 70,000 men between Lee's 
army and the rebel power in the South-west, and gave Grant 
the immense advantage of interior lines against the rebellion ; 
an advantage never before attained, and which, properly im- 
proved, could not fail to result in the complete overthrow 
of the Confederacy. Xot till Hood had been defeated and 
driven from Tennessee did the rebel cabinet see the fatal 
mistake into which they had been led : spurred on by the 
popular clamor, thev reinstated Johnston, in the command 



320 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

of their widely scattered and decimated forces ; but it was 
too late. That able leader hastened to correct the mistake 
which had been made under the inspiration of Davis, by 
gathering the wreck of Hood's army and uniting it with 
Hardee's, at some point north and east of Sherman, so as 
to get nearer to Lee than his antagonist could get to Grant. 
The adoption of this plan was the last ray of good general- 
ship displayed by any of the Southern leaders, and had the 
means for its execution been as adequate to the requirements 
of the case, as the conception itself was brilliant, the " lost 
cause " might still have made head with a faint glimmer of 
hope that Fortune would not prove entirely inexorable. 



CHAPTEE XXXIII. 

REBEL POLICY OF INVASION — BEAUREGARD SENT WEST— HE REOR- 
GANIZES AND EQUIPS THE REBEL TROOPS AT CORINTH — THOMAS 
CONCENTRATES — FORREST'S OPERATIONS IN WEST TENNESSEE — THE 
CAPTURE OF JOHNSONVILLE — SCHOFIELD SENT TO PULASKI — HOOD 
PUSHES NORTHWARD — REBELS REPULSED AT SPRING HILL — CHEAT- 
HAM ATTACKS STANLEY — SCHOFIELD CONCENTRATES AT FRANKLIN 
— THE POSITION OF THE TWO ARMIES — THE ATTACK — A FIERCE 
BUT SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLE — SCHOFIELD FALLS BACK TO THE FOR- 
TIFICATIONS AROUND NASHVILLE — WILSON PREPARES HIS CAVALRY 

grant's ANXIETY — THOMAS CONFIDENT — PLAN OF ATTACK — THE 

BATTLE OF NASHVILLE — THE REBELS DEFEATED — THE PURSUIT — 
THE RAID FROM MEMPHIS — STONEMAN'S MOVEMENTS — RESULTS. 

It was a fortunate determination on the part of General 
Grant, to permit Sherman to march to the sea-coast, while 
Hood was marching northward for the reconquest of Ten- 
nessee, and a wise one on Sherman's part, to leave so 
prudent and skillful a General as Thomas to direct affairs 
throughout the Military Division of the Mississippi. The 
latter was anxious not to be left behind, but he was destined 
in this case at least to find the rear the post of honor as well 
as of danger. 

The rebel President had sent forth his fiat of invasion, and 
once more brought the trusted Beauregard to the West to 
carry his heroic policy into execution. This experienced ofl^- 
cer being familiar with the theater of operations, was entrust- 
ed with plenary powers over all the rebel resources, and set 
himself busily at work upon the desperate task assigned him. 
By the middle of October, he arrived at Corinth, his old 

head-quartera of three years before, and by extraordinary 
21 



322 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

exertions soon had the railroads repaired and trains running 
from Meridian and Central Mississippi, through Corinth, to 
Cherokee Station, and with every car, sent forward supplies 
of all kinds for Hood's army. Clothing, shoes, equipments, 
forage, food, arms, and ammunition, were gathered and dis- 
tributed with an unsparing hand. Ke-enforcements in con- 
siderable numbers were also collected from Georgia, and 
from the command of Taylor, in Alabama and Mississippi, 
thus, in a few weeks, swelling the ranks which Hood's vigor- 
ous oifensive about Atlanta had so rapidly decimated, to 
nearly 45,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Forrest's cav- 
alry command, largely increased in strength and efficiency, 
was reorganized and also directed to co-operate with Hood. 
As a matter of course these great preparations could not be 
long concealed from Thomas, who arrived at Nashville on 
the 3d of October, and immediately began to take measures 
for strengthening the detachments doing duty along the 
Tennessee. The main object at first was to delay Hood's 
forward movement till an army could be concentrated, at 
some point south of Nashville, and it must be confessed this 
was no- easy task to accomplish. Thomas had at his immedi- 
ate disposal only a small force of cavalry, consisting of 
Hatch's division and Croxton's brigade about 4,000 men in 
all, which he ordered to the neighborhood of Florence. 
A small brigade under Colonel Capron, was sent towards 
Waynesborough. 

Schofield and Stanley were hurried from Gaylesville and 
Chattanooga to Pulaski, where they were concentrated as 
rapidly as circumstances would permit ; the local garrisons 
with the exception of that at Decatur, were also drawn in, 
but with all Thomas could do, his effective force with which 
to resist Hood's first onset did not exceed 27,000 men. 
Grant feeling anxious to render Thomas' position in Tennes- 
see entirely saffe, «ent General Rawlins, his Chief-of-Staff to 
Missouri, with orders to gather Smith's command and such 
other unemployed troops as could be found, and forward them 
to Nashville as rapidly as the transports could carry them. 



i 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 323 

Wilson was busily engaged in putting the fragmentary cav- 
alry into shape, and raking the cavalry depots for horses upon 
which to remount the regiments which had given their horses 
to Kilpatrick. "While these preparations for the creation of 
an army were in progress, Hood began his long threatened 
advance. But this was preceded by the operations of For- 
rest in West Tennessee. Immediately after his expulsion 
from Middle Tennessee, that hardy rider led his forces by the 
way of Purdy to Fort Heiman, where he established a battery 
of twenty-pounder guns, and by a successful stratagem cap- 
tured one light-clad gun-boat and three transports. He then 
manned the captured vessels, and made a combined move- 
ment against Johnsonville. 

This place being at the terminus of the ]N"ashville and 
Tennessee Eiver Eailroad, and at the head 6f low water 
navigation on the Tennessee Eiver, had acquired considerable 
importance as a base of supplies for our army and was 
now quite useful to Thomas. Forrest reached a point near 
it on the 2d of November, and immediately planted his bat- 
teries on the opposite side of the river isolating three more 
gun-boats and eight transports. He opened fire on the 4th, 
and although the gun-boats replied with spirit they were soon 
disabled and set on fire, to prevent their falling into rebel 
hands. The transports suffered the same fate, but most of 
the military stores including boots, shoes, clothing, hard bread 
and hospital supplies and other public property, collected 
upon the levee at Johnsonville, valued at a million and a half 
of dollars, fell into Forrest's possession, and were either car- 
ried away or burnt. Forrest's troopers laden with the spoils 
of their fortunate campaign, now hastened to rejoin Hood. 
On the night of the 5th, Schofield reached Johnsonville but 
finding the place in ruins and the enemy gone, Thomas 
ordered him at once to Pulaski, assigning him to the com- 
mand of all the troops assembling there, with instructions to 
watch Hood and retard his advance, but not to risk a general 
engagement till the entire available strength of the military 
division should be concentrated. 



324 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

On the 17th of November, Hood's infantry force, now 
entirely refreshed, well-clad and well-armed, crossed the Ten- 
nessee near Florence, and on the 20th began its northern 
march, covered by Forrest's cavalry, which had been thrown 
forward some days previous. Croxton and Hatch, command- 
ing the effective force of Wilson's cavalry, reported the 
movement at once to Thomas, and handling their squadrons 
with great skill, did all in their power to retard the rebel 
movement. Schofield, holding his command well in hand, 
retired shortly to Columbia, on the Duck Kiver ; Hood, 
meanwhile, demonstrated towards Waynesborough, but con- 
tinued to press northward as fast as possible. Sharp skir- 
mishing took place at Lewisburg and Campbell ville, between 
the cavalry, but no serious engagement was brought on. 
Schofield remained in Columbia only a short time, disposing 
the cavalry, now under Wilson, in person along the north side 
of the river, so as to watch the crossings both above and 
below, but mainly those above the town. At noon of the 
28tli of November, Hood's mounted troops macTe their ap- 
pearance at the various fords between Columbia and the 
crossing of the Lewisburg pike, and by dark had forced a 
passage at several places. 

The infantry, during the night, followed close upon their 
heels, and early the next day struck across the country 
toward Spring Hill, twelve miles in the rear of Columbia. 
Schofield, with everything except his rear guard, had already 
evacuated the latter place, and receiving timely notification 
from Wilson, of the rebel movements and probable intentions, 
sent Stanley with one division rapidly by the turnpike to 
Spring Hill, but not deeming it safe to withdraw from the 
vicinity of Columbia during daylight, he restrained the main 
body of the army till after nightfall. He had plenty of time 
for the retrograde movement, which if promptly made would 
prevent Hood from obtaining a lodgment on the Franklin 
pike, while Wilson, — knowing that if Forrest should get pos- 
session of the Lewisburg pike, the only other good road in 
that region, he would reach Franklin first, — lost no time in 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 325 

concentrating the cavalry on the latter highway. The next 
morning he retired slowly towards Franklin, the rebel cavalry 
pressing heavily upon his rear guard under Croxton. At 
Calvary Church, about four miles east of Spring Hill, a stand 
was made, and the rebels severely repulsed. Forrest then 
turned towards the railroad and turnpike along which the 
infantry were supposed to be marching. 

But fortunately Stanley was in position to resist his further 
progress. A sharp fight ensued, lasting all the afternoon. By 
four o'clock, Cheatham's corps, accompanied by Hood in per- 
son, arrived upon the field. Stanley was now sorely pressed 
by the entire rebel army, except one division of Lee's 
corps, which Schofield was engaged in holding at Columbia. 
Perceiving something of the advantage which this fortunate 
conjunction of affairs had thrown into his hands, Hood or- 
dered Cheatham to make a vigorous attack upon Stanley's 
hastily constructed works, and to drive him beyond the pike 
which he was covering, but this was found to be an exceed- 
ingly difficult task, for neither Stanley nor his troops were 
accustomed to yielding a position without a desperate strug- 
gle. Cheatham's attack was well made but failed. Dark- 
ness put a cessation to hostilities till midnight, at which hour 
the head of Schofield's column, marching rapidly towards 
Franklin, made its appearance. The rebel pickets, within 
a short distance of the turnpike, gave the alarm, whereupon 
Hood sent an order to Cheatham's head-quarters, directing 
him to throw his corps across the turnpike for the purpose 
of arresting the movement of the Union army. This order 
was not obeyed, nor was any serious effort made to interfere 
with either the front or the flank of Schofield's hurrying 
columns. Indeed it is questionable If the order reached 
Cheatham till after the Union rear guard had passed. 

The next morning Schofield concentrated his forces at 
Franklin, a considerable town, situated on the south bank of 
the Harpeth, an affluent of the Cumberland, and eighteen 
miles south of Nashville by the great road connecting the 
two places. The river making a horseshoe bend in rear of 



326 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 

the town, Schofield disposed his troops in a semi-circular 
line covering the place reaching to the river bank both above 
and below it. Stanley with the Fourth corps held the right, 
and General (afterwards Governor) J. D. Cox, with the 
Twenty-third corps held the left, while the major part of 
Wilson's cavalry was posted along the northern bank, guard- 
ing the various fords for some distance above and below. 
Croxton's brigade held an advanced position on the Lewis- 
burg Pike. The Union soldiers knowing that they were out- 
numbered fell to work busily to entrench their position. By 
noon of the 30th of November, Hood's advance began to 
press heavily upon Croxton's cavalry and the infantry pickets, 
driving them slowly back ; by four o'clock his army was in 
position, with Stewart on the right, S. D. Lee in the center, 
and Cheatham on the left ; Forrest's cavalry was mainly on 
the right flank. The ground separating the two armies was 
a broad undulating plain, mostly cleared fields across which 
Hood advanced gallantly and confidently to the attack. 

Before starting he assured his men that victory was certain ; 
and it was certain, but destined to bestow its laurels upon 
Schofield and his stalwart veterans. The brunt of the first 
attack fell upon Wagner's division of the Fourth corps, which 
had been permitted to occupy a salient position about eight 
hundred yards in front of the general line.. It had fought 
gallantly all day before at Spring Hill, and now showed the 
, same indomitable pluck, but it was too light to withstand the 
shock of Cheatham's heavy masses, overlapping it on both 
flanks. Delivering its fire with precision, and holding on till 
in imminent peril, it finally fell back in disorder to the main 
line, closely followed by the exultant Tennesseeans, into and 
across the new entrenchments. It was a most critical mo- 
ment for the Union lines ; a wide gap had been made, their 
works and eight guns were already lost, when Opdyke's bri- 
gade of Wagner's division, hitherto in reserve, supported by 
Conrad's brigade, dashed forward with irresistible fury, hurl- 
ing, the astounded rebels headlong from the works, and 
re-establishing the broken center. The gallant Stanley, a 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 327 

soldier like Ney, " terrible in battle," fully realizing the 
danger which menaced us, led the attack, mounting the very 
parapet in front of his men to hold them to the desperate 
work, and after a few minutes was severely wounded. The 
rebels struggled courageously to regain their lost ground, 
returning again and again to the attack, but the struggle was 
hopeless. Cleburne, Gist, Brown, Manigault, Johnson and 
Strahl were killed, at the head of their troops, and before 
night closed the scene, Hood had lost 6,252 of his best men 
and officers. Simultaneously with the conflict in front of 
Franklin, Forrest drove back the cavalry pickets, and forced 
a crossing two miles above the town, with the intention of 
turning Schofield's left and falling upon his communications 
and rear. But Wilson had the bulk of his forces under 
Croxton, Hatch and Johnson, well in hand at Matthew's 
Farm, a mile and a half from the town, and throwing them 
promptly forward, mounted and dismounted, after a fight of 
two hours' duration, they drove the rebels into the river. 
Had the attack of either Hood or Forrest been successful, 
Schofield's army must have been destroyed, for it would have 
been impossible to withdraw it from Franklin in the confu- 
sion of such a disaster. The Union loss in this sanguinary 
engagement was 2,326, including in the number, 1,10-1 
prisoners. 

Under cover of darkness, Schofield crossed to the north 
side of the river, and , the next day, covered by the cavalry, 
continued his march to the fortifications surrounding Nash- 
ville, where Smith's detachment of the Sixteenth corps, 
together with various bodies of irregular troops, had already 
been assembled. Steedman, with 6,000 or 8,000 men, 
gathered from the garrisons of Decatur, Chattanooga, Ste- 
venson and Murfreesboro, arrived soon after, thus concentra- 
ting a force of all arms not far from 65,000 men. But 
Thomas was in no hurry to attack ; feeling confident of his 
position, as well as assured of Hood's foolhardiness, he de- 
termined to make sure of success before striking a blow. 
The cavalry forces were in a bad condition ; many men were 



328 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

dismounted, and many of the horses were disabled by " grease 
heel" and overwork. Thomas, therefore, directed Wilson to 
withdraw his command to the north side of the river, and to 
devote himself exclusively to Its re-establlshment. Horses 
were Impressed In all directions, and by the 10th of Decem- 
ber, 12,000 men were prepared for the field ; but of these, 
3,000 were detached under McCook, to go In pursuit of a 
brigade of Forrest's cavalry, which had crossed the Cumber- 
land River under Lyon, for the purpose of operating upon 
Thomas' communications ; 3,000 more were mounted on 
broken-down horses from the hospital stables, unable to 
stand more than two or three days' service. General Grant 
had watched the progress of this campaign from his head- 
quarters at City Point, with considerable anxiety ; knowing 
the Inchoate condition of Thomas' army, and the desperate 
character of Hood, he could not help entertaining a feeling 
of uneasiness till the great battle had been fought and won. 
The entire country shared his apprehensions, while the news- 
papers expressed the greatest fear that Hood, in pursuance 
of his programme, would cross the Cumberland and carry 
the war to the Ohio as he had threatened. 

Under these circumstances the Lieutenant-General ordered 
Thomas to wait no longer for the cavalry but to attack at 
once.' Before this order was received, a violent rain-storm, 
followed by hail, sleet, snow and Intense cold set in, covering 
the entire fiice of the country with a glare of ice, and render- 
ing It absolutely impossible for troops of any sort to move, 
much less cavalry. Thomas called a council of his corps 
commanders, read them the orders, and asked their advice. 
With one accord they declared it Impossible to attack till the 
weather should moderate, asserting that an attack at that time 
would be certain defeat, but that if delayed till the ground 
should become passable for cavalry, it would result in certain 
victory. General Grant grew still more Impatient and started 
for Nashville In person to put the troops in motion, but he had 
scarcely reached Washington when he received the reassuring 
tidings of victory. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 329 

On the 11th, the weather began to moderate, and by the 
night of the 14th, all the arrangements for the battle had 
been completed. Thomas' plan of attack was admirably 
arranged and thoroughly comprehended by his subordmates. 
It consisted mainly of a feint from the left and center, with a 
direct attack and a strong turning movement from the right. 
His troops were posted in the following order : Steedman on 
the left, Wood with the Fourth corps on the left center, 
covering the Murfreesboro and Franklin pikes, Schofield the 
right center, A. J. Smith the right, with Wilson's troop- 
ers still farther towards the right. General Donaldson with 
about five thousand quartermaster's employees was kept in 
reserve for the purpose of holding the defenses of the city 
after the army should become engaged. The morning of the 
15th of December broke cloudy, and the landscape to the 
front was obscui-ed by a dense fog, Avhich delayed the move- 
ment for an hour or more after the appointed time, and then 
another delay supervened on account of a movement across 
the front of the cavalry by a part of Smith's command. 
Thomas, with unshaken resolution, had declined up to that 
time to molest Hood, or to disturb the serenity of his confi- 
dence, by experiments against his works, and it is possible 
that the rebels may have thought him weak and irresolute 
for his pains, but if such an idea had found place in Hood's 
quixotic brain, it was rudely dispelled by the shock of re- 
sounding arms. As soon as the fog lifted sufficiently, the 
battle opened by Steedman's feint on the left, followed by 
an assault upon the rebel salient at Montgomery's Hill by 
Wood's corps. The cavalry corps, had already begun its 
movem'ent, Johnson on the extreme right, Croxton next, then 
Hatch, with Knipe and the brigade of dismounted troopers 
in reserve. Smith moved simultaneously upon the rebel 
works on the outlying ridges of the Brentwood hills. In 
a short time the rebel left, well strung out, was reached, 
broken through and driven back. The enemy had been 
deceived In regard to the point of attack, and In fact did not 
seem to expect an attack at all. The Brentwood hills were 



830 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 

covered with a thick growth of timber, and being steep and 
muddy, could not have been more difficult for the passage of 
troops, except when covered with snow and sleet. But after 
breaking through the hostile line of investment at Harding's 
Creek, Wilson wheeled gradually to the left, in order to 
envelope and overwhelm the left flank of the main line, and 
if possible to reach Brentwood Station. By noon he came 
full upon the rebel works, but without hesitation, the dis- 
mounted troopers closely followed by the infantry of Smith's 
corps, each envious of the rapidity and gallantry of the other, 
sprang with alacrity upon the astonished rebels. McArthur 
in solid columns, and Hatch with a heavy line of skirmishers, 
armed with repeating rifles, swept over the first redoubt, 
capturing four guns and a number of prisoners. 

Without waiting to count the spoils, the cavalry pushed 
forward against a second redoubt on a still higher hill and 
carried that also, with 4 more guns and 300 prisoners. 
AYood's corps now moved to the attack carrying the rebel 
advanced line, wdiile Schofield was thrown to his right to fill 
the gap between Smith and Wilson, both of whom continued 
to advance. The rebels were driven steadily beyond the 
Ilillsboro })ike, losing sixteen guns and many pnsoners. At 
night, Wilson's right under Hammond, rested on the Granny 
White pike, behind the rebel left, his center on the Hillsboro 
pike, and his left connecting with Schofield. The next morn- 
ing the action was renewed by an effort on the part of the 
rebel cavalry to dislodge Hammond from his menacing posi- 
tion ; Hatch was sent at once to Hammond's assistance, and 
in a short time a strong line of dismounted troopers Avas 
swung entirely across the Granny "White pike, facing Nash- 
ville and pressing the rebel left and rear with great earnest- 
ness. Croxton was ordered into position to cover this line 
from attack, while Johnson marched across the country from 
Bell's Landing. The broken region in which the rebel left was 
now posted could not have been more unpromising for cavalry 
operations ; indeed the cavalry was cavalry only in name ; 
the horses were left far behind, for they could scarcely have 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 331 

clambered up the hills singly, much less, in the order of battle. 
The dismounted troopers however continued to work their way- 
forward, gradually driving in the rebel rear ; by noon their line 
extended along Hood's rear for a mile ; with incredible labor 
they finally succeeded in getting two pieces of artillery to the 
top of a rugged hill taking in reverse the hostile entrench- 
ments. Promptly at six o'clock in the morning Wood moved 
his corps forward, driving the rebel skirmishers back to their 
works ; pausing to form his columns he advanced to the 
assault of Overton's Hill, the key point of Hood's line, but 
after a gallant attack was driven back. Steedman conformed 
to Wood's movement, on the left, while Smith and Schofield 
threw forward their lines on the right. Meanwhile the cav- 
alry skirmishers continued to press upon the rebel rear, 
clambering across the ravines and up the hill-sides, and 
breaking through the dense growth of underbrush as best 
they could. Finally at two o'clock a trooper captured a 
despatch from Hood to Chalmers, commanding the rebel 
horse in the absence of Forrest, directing the latter in most 
urgent terms to dislodge the Union cavalry from his flank 
and rear, adding that unless this could be done no human 
force could save him from defeat. 

This despatch was sent to Thomas while the movement of 
our cavalry continued. Perceiving the effect produced, and 
that the time had now come for a final and overwhelming ad- 
vance along the whole line, Thomas launched the entire army 
directly against the front of Hood's now concentrated but. 
shaken divisions. Wood's corps, supported by Steedman, 
advanced again to the assault of Overton's Hill, but again 
met with a bloody repulse. Schofield and Smith, farther to 
the right, advanced at the same time, and although they had 
to climb steep hills and carry a strong line of w^orks, they 
never faltered but swept right on, crossing the rebel entrench- 
ments from the front, as the dismounted cavalry-men dashed 
into their rear. The rebel historians say that Bates' division 
broke and fled in panic, but they forget to explain that it was 
not till they saw themselves about to be crushed like grain 



332 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

between the upper and nether millstones. Schofield and 
Smith pressed forward with irresistible ardor, sweeping 
everything before them. " Excited by the victorious cheers 
on the right, and the intermingling crack of rifle and carbine, 
which told of the joint triumph of infantry and cavalry, the 
Fourth corps and Steedman's command, which had been 
already handsomely reformed and were chafing for the signal, 
burst once more with a vigor which nothing could stay, 
against the strono;hold of Overton's Hill." * Human nature 
could stand it no longer, and shortly after four o'clock the 
entire rebel line gave way in rout and confusion, retreating 
rapidly by the Franklin pike, and the fields on both sides 
of it. 

It was now after four o'clock ; darkness was coming on, 
preceded by a sombre and misty twilight. AVith two hours 
more of daylight the Union legions could have completed the 
destruction of their opponents, now hurrying in consternation 
from the field. The dismounted cavalry saw beyond their 
reach the reflux of disordered fugitives, but their horses were 
far in the rear, and without them they were unable to pursue. 
Croxton was hastily withdrawn from his outpost, the horses 
were hurried forward, and the troopers mounting rapidly 
dashed forward in pursuit, but it was too late. The flying 
rebels had swept beyond the field, vanishing under the pall 
of impenetrable darkness, which night had kindly spread for 
their safety. Hatch, Croxton and Knipe used all possible 
diligence in leading their excited squadrons in pursuit, but 
had not gone more than two miles when the leading regi- 
ment, Spaulding's Twelfth Tennessee, ran full upon Chalmers' 
cavalry division strongly posted across the road behind rail 
breastworks. Dark as it was, Avithout a moment's hesitation 
Spaulding led his men to the charge, striking full upon the 
barricade, bursting through it and falling with drawn sabers 
upon the rebel troops scattering them like chaflf. The rest 
of Hatch's men soon joined in the fight ; and now occurred 
one of the most exciting scenes of the war. All order was 
♦Twelve decisive battles of tlie War. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 333 

soon lost in the pitchy darkness, but each man fought his 
own battle. Pistol shot and the din of saber strokes, inter- 
mingled with the shouts of officers, and the hurrahs of the 
supporting squadrons, and the screams of the wounded told 
how fiercely the rebels were struggling. But their valor was 
unavailing to stay the onset of the Union horsemen. By ten 
o'clock the fight was over. The cavalry-men after two days' 
incessant fighting were now completely exhausted, and soon 
sank hungry to rest upon the sodden hill-sides they had cap- 
tured. Early the next morning Wilson pushed forward in 
pursuit, the bulk of his forces marching toward Brentwood 
closely followed by Wood. Johnson's division was sent to 
cross the Harpeth, four miles to the right of Franklin, and 
turning thence to the left to strike the retreating rebels in flank. 
The rebel rear guard was overtaken at Hollow-tree Gap, 
where it attempted to make a stand, but Hammond's brigade 
by a handsome movement struck it in flank, capturing 400 
prisoners and several more colors. Shortly afterwards John- 
son dashed into Franklin, driving the rebels from there. This 
made the crossing of the Harpeth easy, and without a pause 
the cavalry pushed down the Columbia pike, and by such 
country roads as were passable. At length, just at nightfall, 
they came upon the rebel rear guard, composed of Steven- 
son's division and two batteries drawn out in line of battle, 
six miles south of Franklin. 

Wilson pushed Hatch forward at once on the left, Knipe 
and Hammond on the right, and his own escort, the gallant 
Fourth United States Cavalry, down the pike in a headlong 
charge. The rebel batteries opened with grape and can- 
ister, but before they could load again the regulars had 
burst upon them, and ridden through them like a whirl-wind. 
Simultaneously Hatch and Knipe rushed upon the rebel 
flanks, sweeping everything before them. Another exciting 
night fight took place, during which a number of prisoners 
and a battery were captured by Colonel Beaumont and Cap- 
tain Andrews of Wilson's staff", aided by General Hatch and 
a few orderlies. General Hammond and Lieutenant-Colonel 



334 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Gresham on the extreme right, crossed the West Harpeth 
and fell upon the flank of the retreating rebel column, but 
after losing most of their little band in a gallant charge, they 
rejoined the main force. At ten o'clock a halt was called, 
and the weary troopers permitted to bivouac. 

The next day, the 18th of December, the pursuit was 
resumed before dawn, and by night had reached Ruther- 
ford's Creek, three miles north of Columbia. It had been 
raining all day heavily, and much of the day before; the 
bridges were all down, the railroad bridge destroyed, and 
the creek running a perfect torrent. The cavalry had no 
pontoons, and the train which had been hastily improvised 
at Nashville, was floundering laboriously forward, upon a 
road already overcrowded by troops and wagons. The 
rebels had already crossed Duck Eiver, (now deep enough 
to float the "Great Eastern,") and taken up their bridge. 
The pursuers had nothing to do but to stay their advance 
till bridges could be built. This stream once delayed Buell's 
entire army for ten days, but Thomas crossed it in less 
than three, and that in midwinter under the most unfavorable 
circumstances. Hood had availed himself of the time thus 
providentially given to him to hurry his army towards the 
Tennessee, leaving a strong rear guard of eight brigades — 
5,000 men, under Forrest to cover his flight. 

The pursuit was resumed at the earliest moment and 
pressed with ceaseless activity, but the rebels could not 
again be brought to a stand long enough for decisive meas- 
ures. The country south from Duck River is broken, sterile, 
and heavily timbered, and at that time of year it was utterly 
impassable for cavalry except along the turnpike, and main 
country roads. The weather was as bad as could be, alter- 
natinn- with rain, sleet, snow and frost. Both horses and men 
sufixired greatly ; neither forage nor rations could be obtained, 
but still the pursuit was kept up, till the 29th of December, 
on which day the advanced guard under Spaulding reached 
the Tennessee at Bainbridge, just in time to see the rebel 
pontoons swung to the other side. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 335 

Thomas had urged the pursuit unceasingly,* sending Steed- 
man by rail to Decatur so as to cross the river and to cut off 
Hood's retreat, and Colonel W. J. Palmer with a small bri- 
gade of Johnson's division of cavalry, to follow and harass 
him after he had crossed into Alabama. The latter suc- 
ceeded in overtaking the rear guard at Eussellville, where 
he destroyed the rebel pontoon train of 200 wagons and 78 
boats. Pushing on towards Aberdeen, he overtook and de- 
stroyed a supply-train, burning 110 wagons and killing the 
mules. About the same time a raid from Memphis, under 
Grierson and "Winslow succeeded in striking the railroad 
leading south from Corinth and in breaking it up effect- 
ually. Hood's defeat was accompanied by another rebel 
disaster in the Western theatre. On the 13th of November, 
Breckenridge defeated Gillem near Morristown, in East 
Tennessee, capturing his artillery and several hundred prison- 
ers ; whereupon, Thomas acting under Grant's instructions, 
ordered Stoneman, now temporarily in command of the De- 
partment of the Ohio, to gather all the available forces and 
march against Breckenridge, Vaughan and Duke, (Morgan's 
successors,) driving them into Virginia if possible, and de- 
stroying the extensive salt-works at Saltville. By rapid 
marching and hard fighting, Stoneman executed the task 
assigned him. Gillem, commanding a part of his forces, de- 
feated Duke at Kingsport, and Vaughan at Marion. Breck- 
enridge was driven into North Carolina, the salt-works were 
destroyed and the railroads broken up. Thus ended Davis' 
reconquest of Tennessee. Instead of reaching the Ohio, his 
troops had beaten vainly " against Thomas, the Kock of 
Chickamauga," and bore backward the battle-stained flags of 
defeat. Instead of receiving " 30,000 brave Tennesseeans " 
into their ranks, they left dead or in hospitals 10,000 men, 
losing besides, 13,189 prisoners, including 8 Generals, 72 
pieces of artillery, and many colors. 

* " The wisdom of Thomas in delaying attack in order to mount his cavalry, 
approved itself, for never before in the war had grand victory been so energet- 
icaUy followed by pursuit." Twelve decisive battles of tl;e war— Nashville. 



336 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Moreover, during the campaign, Thomas' Provost Marshal 
received 2,200 deserters. The original army had vanished, 
and the entire West was lost forever to the rebellion. The 
broken and dispirited remnant of Hood's 50,000 were re- 
turned to Johnston's command, and reappeared again the 
next spring in the fitful eifort which that officer made to stay 
the progress of Sherman's northward march through the 
Carolinas. 

Thomas now prepared to give his army rest, but under 
Grant's supreme control winter quarters were no longer 
allowed. He ordered Thomas to send Schofield with the 
Twenty-third corps to the Atlantic sea-board, while the cav- 
alry and the rest of the army were concentrated upon the 
banks of the Tennessee preparatory to pushing forward into 
Central Alabama. A few weeks' later Smith's corps and 
Knipe's division of cavalry were sent to assist Canby in the 
campaign of Mobile, while Wood was started toward East 
Tennessee for the purpose of penetrating to Lynchburg. 

Wilson gathered the cavalry fiom all directions, and by the 
1st of March had in camp 17,000 men, 12,000 of whom were 
supplied with Spencer carbines and good horses. With this 
splendid force, well-drilled, well-organized and admirably 
commanded he was finally turned loose to finish the work of 
destruction and conquest. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

EXPEDITION AGAINST WILMINGTON — SAILING OF THE FLEET — THE 
ARRIVAL AT THE RENDEZVOUS — EXPLOSION OF THE HULK — BUTLER 
THINKS THE WORKS TOO STRONG — GRANT DECIDES TO MAKE A NEW 
ATTEMPT — GENERAL TERRY ASSIGNED TO COMMAND — THE ATTACK 
UPON FORT FISHER — GALLANTRY OF SAILORS AND SOLDIERS — AR- 
RIVAL OF GENERAL SCHOFIELD — THE DEPARTMENT OF NORTH 
CAROLINA — SHERMAN MARCHES NORTHWARD — THE DESTRUCTION 
OF COLUMBIA HAMPTON'S CRIMINALITY — THE ENEMY CONCEN- 
TRATED UNDER JOHNSTON — FIGHT NEAR BENTONSVILLE — JUNC- 
TION OF SHERMAN AND SCHOFIELD AT GOLDSBORO — STONEMAn's 
MOVEMENTS — WILSON BEGINS AN ACTIVE CAMPAIGN — CAPTURE 
OF SELMA — THE ARMISTICE — CAPTURE OF JEFF. DAVIS — CANBY'S 
MOVEMENTS — CAMPAIGN AGAINST MOBILE. 

The most important seaport yet remaining to the rebels 
was Wilmington, near the mouth of Cape Fear River. Into 
this safe and capacious harbor, with its wide entrance, the 
Confederate cruisers and blockade runners were accustomed 
to pass in spite of all the navy could do to keep them out. 
Arms, ammunition, and clothing were carried In to be 
exchanged for cotton. The Government had long been 
anxious to break up this business, and during fhe winter 
arranged for a combined land and naval expedition, having 
that object in view. The Lieutenant-General was called 
upon to furnish the co-operating land forces, and had made 
his dispositions for sending them to Fortress Monroe, when 
the object of the concentration of transports and naval vessels 
at that place became known to the public press, and caused 
the expedition to be deferred. Late in November, however, 
it was determined that it should be reassembled and dis- 
patched at once. General Grant wxnt to Hampton Roads, 
22 



338 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

for the purpose of consulting with Admiral Porter, who had 
co-operated so effectively with him on the Mississippi, and 
after a conference, It was decided that 6,500 men should he 
sent, and that the expedition should sail early in December. 
On the 30th of November, General Grant learned that Bragg 
■who had been commanding in North Carolina, had taken 
most of his forces to Georgia for the purpose of joining 
Hardee and making head against Sherman ; thinking that 
the time had now come to strike the long contemplated blow, 
he designated General Weitzel to command the land forces, 
and directed General Butler, commanding the Department, 
to make all the necessary arrangements for sending them 
forward without delay. On the 6th of December he wrote : 
" The first object of the expedition under General Weitzel is 
to close to the enemy the port of Wilmington. If successful 
in this, the second will be to capture Wilmington itself" 

The instructions were sent through General Butler, and he 
was expected to arrange the details, furnish all assistance 
and supplies required, but not to -accompany the expedition. 
Much delay occurred, but finally on the 13th of December, 
the armada, with Butler himself in command, sailed for the 
place of rendezvous, where It arrived on the 15th. Eough 
weather Intervening, and the naval fleet not being ready, the 
attack was delayed several days. On the morning of the 
21th, a hulk, laden with gunpowder, was run close in under 
the guns of Fort Fisher, and exploded with the expectation 
of shattering the rebel works ; " but," says General Grant, 
" it would -seem from the notice taken of it in the Southern 
newspapers, that the enemy were never enlightened as to the 
object of the explosion, until they were Informed of it by the 
Northern press." * 

On the 25th the fleet stood up to the coast and a landing 
was effected without opposition. A reconnoissance was sent 

*The origination of this novel expedient lies between Admiral Porter 
and General Butler, who procured from the Navy Department and the War 
Department the powder requisite for the purpose. The Navy Department, 
however, furnished the greater part of it. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 339 

out under Gen. Curtis, and an examination of the rebel works 
was made by General Weitzel. Thinking them too strong 
to be carried by assault or reduced by the navy, General 
Butler ordered the reiimbarkation of his troops and returned 
to Fortress Monroe. It seems that he had not been able to 
agree with Admiral Porter in regard to the plan of opera- 
tions ; at all events they had not acted harmoniously. 

Grant's instructions were framed with the express inten- 
tion of shutting the entrance to Wilmington, and therefore 
did not contemplate the return of the expedition till that 
object had been fully accomplished. He was, consequently, 
much chagrined when he received notice that it had returned 
to Hampton Roads. A few days afterwards, having been 
informed by the Secretary of the Navy and Admiral Porter, 
that the naval squadron was still off Fort Fisher, confident 
of its ability to take the place with the aid of land forces 
properly commanded, he determined to make a new attempt, 
but this time under a different leader. Adding a brigade of 
1500 men and a small siege-train to the original force, he 
assigned General Alfred H. Terry to the command, giving 
him subsequently the same instructions that he had given to 
Butler, containing the following judicious counsel: 

" It is exceedingly desirable that the most complete understanding 
Bhould exist between yourself and the Naval commander. I suggest, 
therefore, that you consult with Admiral Porter freely, and get from 
him the part to be performed by each branch of the public service, so 
that there may be unity of action. It would be well to have the whole 
programme laid down in writing. I have served with Admiral Porter, 
and know that you can rely on his judgment and his nerve, to under- 
take what he proposes. I would therefore defer to him as much as is 
consistent with your own responsibilities. The first object to be 
attained, is to get a firm position on the spit of land on which Fort 
Fisher is built, from which you can operate against that fort. You 
want to look to the practicability of receiving your supplies, and to 
defending yourself against superior forces, which may be sent against 
you by any of the avenues left open to the enemy. If such a position can 
he obtained, the siege of Fort Fisher will not be abandoned until its reduc- 
tion is accomplished, or another plan of campaign is ordered from these 
head-quarters." 



340 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 

Every precaution was taken to provide this expedition 
against failure. Other troops were prepared and held at 
Fort Monroe, in readiness to go forward, should an emer- 
gency require it. General Grant also sent his aid-de-camp, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Comstock, an experienced engineer of the 
regular army, to accompany General Terry. The expedition 
sailed on the 6th of January, (1865,) reaching its destination 
two days thereafter, but owing to a stress of weather, the 
landing was not effected till the 13th. The next day the 
rebel fort was closely reconnoitered, while one of its detached 
works was taken possession of, and made to protect Union 
soldiers during the succeeding operations. Terry and Porter 
acting in perfect accord, pushed forward their arrangements 
with great earnestness. The plan of operations agreed upon, 
was that the navy should silence the rebel guns by a concen- 
trated fire from the different vessels, and this being done, the 
land forces, aided by the marines and a brigade of sailors, 
should assault the entrenchments. In pursuance of this plan 
the fleet steamed in to the attack in three columns, and at a 
quarter before seven o'clock, on the 15th, began a terrific 
cannonade, which was continued without intermission for six 
hours, after the expiration of which time the enemy's guns 
were silenced. The sailors and marines, under the command 
of Fleet-Captain Breese, were landed in the meantime, and 
at the given signal moved forward in handsome style against 
the water face of the rebel fort, while the land forces, con- 
sisting of the division of General Ames, assaulted from the 
rear. Paint's division of colored troops, and Abbott's bri- 
gade of w'lte, held a line across the spit of land, between the 
fort and Wilmington, for the purpose of covering the assault- 
ing columns from all interruption likely to be attempted in 
that quarter. 

The fort was held by about 2,500 men, and was admirably 
arranged with ditch and palisade, parapet a-nd traverse on all 
sides. The sailors found the water work too strong to be 
carried, but succeeded in attracting more than a fair share of 
rebel attention to themselves ; this was favorable to the oper- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 341 

atlons of Ames, who gallantly led his column forward to the 
line of bristling palisades which barred his progress till his 
hardy men had cut them down. Then nobly seconded by 
Curtis, Pennypacker and Bell, his brigade commanders, the 
gallant Ames cheered his veterans through the ditch and soon 
made a lodgment upon the western end of the principal face 
of the work. The rebels fought bravely, contesting every 
foot of ground till after nightfall, but all to no purpose, for 
though their assailants were led by a General upon whose 
face the beard had scarcely yet begun to grow, they found him 
as intrepid as Latour d'Auvergne, and as inexorable as fate.* 
Victory at last rested upon the national standards, but not 
till 955 men and officers had been killed and wounded. The 
next day the enemy abandoned Fort Caswell and Bald Head 
battery, opposite Fort Fisher, thus giving the Union forces 
complete control of the entrance to Cape Fear River. 

In pursuance of the Lieutenant-General's vigorous policy, 
Terry began his movement against Wilmington at once, but 
meeting with more opposition from the rebel commander, 
Iloke, than he was able to overcome, he was compelled to 
desist till joined by re-enforcements. On the 15th of Febru- 
ary General Schofield arrived from the West, and after 
receiving instructions from General Grant assumed com- 
mand. Without hesitation that skillful officer prepared to 
resume active operations. On the 16th he transferred Cox's 
division of the Twenty-third corps to Smith ville, on the west 
bank of Cape Fear River, with orders to move upon the rear 
of Fort Anderson, while the men-of-war should attack it in 
front. Cox carried out his orders with admirable precision, 
and was ready for the assault when the rebels evacuated the 
fort and retired to Wilmington. He then crossed Brunswick 
River, to Eagle Island, turning the defenses of the Peninsula, 
and causing the rebels in Schofield's front to fall rapidly 
back. On the 22d of February, Schofield took possession of 
Wilmington, the rebels having been forced to evacuate the 

* General Ames, the actual Commander of the assaulting division and the 
hero of Fort Fisher, was a cadet at West Point when the war brolie out. 



342 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

place the night before, after burning their rosin, cotton, and 
military stores. 

Grant immediately erected North Carolina into a Depart- 
ment, and assigned Schofield to the command, ordering him 
to report to Sherman for the purpose of co-operating with 
him, in the northward movements, about to begin. Before 
the campaign from Wilmington opened he gave General 
Schofield the following written instructions : 

* * * * « Goldsboro will be your objective point, moving either 
from Wilmington or Newbern, or both, as you deem best. Should you 
not be able to reach Goldsboro, you will advance on the line or lines 
of railway connecting that place with the sea-coast, as near to it as you 
can, building the road behind you. The enterprise under you has two 
objects : the first is to give Sherman material aid, if needed, in his march 
North ; the second, to open a base of supplies for him on his line of 
march. As soon, therefore, as you can determine which of the two 
points, — Wilmington or Newbern, — you can 'best use for throwing sup- 
plies from to the interior, you will commence the accumulation of 
twenty days' rations, and forage for 60,000 men and 20,000 animals. 
You will get of these as many as you can house and protect to such 
points in the interior as you may be able to occupy. I believe Gen- 
eral Palmer has received some instructions direct from General Sher- 
man on the subject of securing supplies for his array. You can learn 
what steps he has taken, and be governed in your requisitions accord- 
ingly. A supply of ordnance-stores will also be necessary. * * » * 
The movements of the enemy may justify you, or even make it your 
imperative duty, to cut loose from your base, and strike for the interior 
to aid Sherman. In such case you will act upon your own judgment, 
without waiting for instructions. You will report, however, what you 
propose doing. The details for carrying out these instructions are 
necessarily left to you. I would urge, however, if I did not know that 
you are already fully alive to the importance of it, prompt action. 
Sherman may be looked for in the neighborhood of Goldsboro any 
time from the 22d to the 28th of February. This limits your time very 
materially." 

When Sherman arrived at Savannah, the question natu- 
rally arose as to what should be his future destination. His 
grand march to the sea had simply demonstrated the practi- 
cability of whatever movement he might be ordered to make. 
To co-operate with the army in Virginia was clearly the 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 343 

object of all that had been done or yet remained to do, but 
whether Sherman should be brought with his troops by sea 
to City Point, and form a junction with the armies operat- 
ing about Petersburg, or be directed to march northward 
through the Carolinas, was not at first so clear. Grant 
favored the former idea, but on further investigation it was 
found exceedingly difficult to obtain a sufficient number of 
sea-worthy transports ; and as it would have been dangerous 
to trust so large an army to the mercy of the Atlantic at 
that time of the year, even in good vessels, Grant counter- 
manded his first order, and after hearing Sherman's views, 
instructed him to lead his army into the interior again, where 
difficult roads, numerous rivers, and flooded marshes were yet 
to be overcome. The Lieutenant-General was confirmed in 
his final judgment, by the fear, now becoming prevalent, that 
Lee would abandon Petersburg and Eichmond, and throw 
himself into the interior for the purpose of uniting with 
Johnston, and gathering the remnants of the rebel forces into 
one powerful army, with which to continue the war. It was 
Grant's principal desire, now, as heretofore, to destroy Lee's 
army and not to dislodge it, — to overwhelm the armed forces, 
of the rebellion, not to scatter them into distant regions or 
drive them to mountain fastnesses, where, by resorting to guer- 
rilla warfare, they might prolong the struggle indefinitely. 
He therefore determined to close all lines of retreat, and 
block all routes of communication ; concentrating from all 
quarters upon Richmond and Petersburg. Sherman's orders 
were implied rather than specifically stated ; for Grant well 
knew that his trusty lieutenant would leave nothing in his 
track that could benefit the rebel cause. When Grant visited 
Knoxville, after the battle of Chattanooga, patriotic citizens 
of that region, while praying for peace, expressed the hope 
that it might never come till Sherman had marched through 
South Carolina as he had through East Tennessee. 

They wished that State to feel some of the pangs that 
they had felt, and to realize in its own homes and at its own 
firesides a taste of the manifold horrors that it had so rashly 



344 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GllAXT. 

called down upon the country. With a severe sense of re- 
tributive justice, Sherman's veterans were impatient for the 
march, and when they heard " the forward," sprang out with 
an alacrity never surpassed in war. It was intended that 
the northward march should begin on the 15th of January, 
and on that day the Seventeenth corps, General Blair com- 
manding, was sent by water from Savannah to Hilton Head, 
and thence to Pocotaligo, for the purpose of menacing 
Charleston, while Slocum, with Kilpatrick's cavalry, moved 
up the Savannah River towards Sister's Ferry, threatening 
Augusta. But heavy rains now set in, and continued for a 
fortnio-ht almost without intermission. The rivers became 
flooded, the bottoms and swamps overflowed, and the roads 
impassable, and hence the movement was delayed. In the 
meantime, Grover's division of the Nineteenth corps reached 
Savannah and relieved Sherman's troops of their charge. 
The rains having abated, the entire army was put in motion 
on the 1st of February, pointing nearly due northward. 
Slocum, with the left column, moved upon Barnwell, while 
the right wing, crossing the Salkehatchie and Combahee, 
pushed rapidly for the Edisto. The rebels believed it im- 
possible for Sherman to make his way with such an army 
through their swamps even if unopposed, but to make his 
task still more difiicult, the Governor called all the male 
population between the ages of sixteen and sixty, to arras, 
and put the negroes to work felling trees and breaking up 
bridges. 

Wheeler's troopers hovered about the Union columns, 
while small detachments of infantry were sent to dispute the 
passage of the Edisto and Congaree, but these feeble efforts 
were of no avail against the confident battalions from the 
fields of Donelson, Chattanooga and Atlanta. Steadily these 
men of the West pressed forward, tearing up railroads, burn- 
ino- cotton, seizing bridges, and fighting when necessary. Or- 
angeburg was reached, then Columbia by a brilliant maneuver, 
thus sealing the fivte of Charleston and Fort Sumter, and the 
other dependencies of that stubborn city. Columbia was 



LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GKANT. 345 

almost entirely destroyed, not by Sherman's fault, but through 
the criminal negligence of Hampton and the rebel cavalry, 
\vho set fire to the cotton in the streets. Similar destruction 
took place in Charleston, where there were no national soldiers 
to bear the blame. The rebels seemed utterly bereft of rea- 
son, and with passionate ardor consigned their choicest posses- 
sions to the flames, forgetting that they were adding to their 
own cup of bitterness, and in no way injuring the national 
cause. Indeed, wherever they manifested the slightest dispo- 
sition to destroy, Sherman and his entire army l,ent their 
willing aid, so that between them both, the Carolinas were 
swept with a besom of destruction from the Savannah to the 
Koanoke, and from the Atlantic to the Alleghanies. A wide 
sweep to the westward, and a hurrying march from the Yad- 
kin to the Cape Fear River brought Sherman to Fayette- 
ville on the 11th of March, His army concentrated there 
the next day, and receiving news from Schofield of what 
had happened during the si^: weeks of their campaigning, 
were permitted to rest for the brief period of three days. 
Hardee from Savannah and Charleston, Beauregard from 
Columbia, Cheatham from Tennessee, Bragg and Hoke from 
Wilmington, Hampton from Richmond and Wheeler from 
Atlanta, all under the command of Johnston, had finally been 
concentrated into one army not less than 50,000 strong by 
. Sherman's unheeding advance, and were now prepared to 
dispute his further progress. Renewing his northward march 
Sherman demonstrated with the cavalry and Slocum's com- 
mand heavily towards Averysborough, while he threw 
forward the rest of the army, on the direct road to Goldsboro. 
Slocum and the cavalry encountered Hardee, and ■ after a 
severe battle, drove him from the field in the direction of 
Bentonsville. Johnston who was then at Smithfield, per- 
ceiving that the Union army was divided, concentrated his 
forces and threw them rapidly upon Slocum, hoping to crush 
him before Sherman could reach the field. The advance was 
suddenly attacked, and after a sharp fight driven back, but 
in a short time Slocum had posted his entire force in order of 



346 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

battle, and successfully resisted the hostile onset. Sherman, 
hearing the firing in the direction of Bentonsville, hurried 
thither, and by the next morning had strengthened Slocum 
sufficiently to justify a renewal of the offensive. The entire 
army was now concentrated in Johnston's front, but knowing 
that Schofield and Terry were moving rapidly towards 
Goldsboro, thus menacing Johnston's line of retreat, Sherman 
w^as anxious not to make a general attack too soon, for fear 
the enemy might fall back without risking a decisive engage- 
ment. He therefore made a noisy demonstration in front and 
maneuvered to get possession of the rebel line of retreat. 
But Johnston was too wary to be caught in such a trap, and 
during the next night fell back rapidly to Smithfield and 
Raleigh, leaving his pickets, and killed and wounded behind. 
Sherman's loss here was 1,643 killed, wounded and mi-ssing, 
and Johnston's nearly 2,000, of whom 1,600 were prisoners, 
many of them severely wounded. Sherman now pushed on 
rapidly to Goldsboro, reaching that place on the 23d of 
March, resting and reclothing his army, and forming a junc- 
tion with Schofield and Terry. On the 2Tth of March, he 
himself arrived at City Point whither he had been called for 
the purpose of conferring with the President and General 
Grant. 

The operations in the Carolinas were but a part of the 
comprehensive scheme which Grant had formed for the final . 
campaign against the rebellion. It will be remembered that 
he had directed Thomas, after sending Schofield to the 
Atlantic sea-board, to concentrate the remainder of his availa- 
ble infantry in East Tennessee, with the view of marching 
into Virginia by the way of Abingdon and Lynchburg. He 
also instructed him to send a cavalry column under Stone- 
man into the Carolinas, to break the railroads at Columbia, 
Charlotte and Salisbury, destroy the rebel resources, and 
release our prisoners ; but Stoneman was so slow in prepar- 
ing his command for the field, that Grant, in anticipation of 
Lee's retreating towards South-western Virginia, finally 
changed his destination to Lynchburg. Before reaching that 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 847 

place, liowever, Stoneman, who had already devoted a good 
deal of time to destroying the East Tennessee and Virginia 
Eailroad, turned towards North Carolina, reaching Boone on 
the 1st of April. lie then pushed across the mountains to 
"VVilkesboro on the Yadkin, where he found an abundance of 
supplies, but tarrying only a short time, he turned north- 
ward, and went into South-western Virginia, capturing 
Wytheville and breaking up the railroad to within four miles 
of Lynchburg. Concentrating his command, he now turned 
southward a second time, and penetrated North Carolina by 
the way of Jacksonville and Taylorsville. xVfter destroying 
the manufactories at Salem and breaking up the Danville 
Eailroad, he pushed on to Salisbury, which place he captured 
on the 10th of April, taking 14 guns and 1300 prisoners. 

On the 14th of February the Lieutenant-General wrote to 
General Thomas as follows : 

" Gen. Canby is preparing a movement from Mobile Bay against Mo- 
bile and the interior of Alabama. His force will consist of about 20,000 
men, besides A. J. Smith's command. The cavalry you have sent to 
Canby will be debarked at Yicksburg. It, with the available cavalry 
already in that section, will move from there eastward in co-operation. 
Hood's army has been terribly reduced by the severe punishment you 
gave it in Tennessee, by desertion consequent upon their defeat, and now 
by the withdrawal of many of them to oppoee Sherman. (I take it, a 
large portion of the infantry has been so withdrawn. It is so asserted in 
the Richmond papers, and a member of the rebel Congress said, a few- 
days since, in a speech, that over half of it had been brought to South 
Carolina to oppose Sherman.) This being true, or even if it is not true, 
Canby's movement will attract all the attention of the enemy, and leave 
the advance from your stand-point easy. I think it advisable, there- 
fore, that you prepare as much of a cavalry force as you can spare, and 
hold it in readiness to go South. The object would be threefold, — first, 
to attract as much of the enemy's force as possible, to insure success to 
Canby ; second, to destroy the enemy's line of communication and mili- 
tary resources ; third, to destroy or capture their forces brought into the 
field. Tuscaloosa and Selma would probably be the points to direct the- 
expeditions against. This, however, would not be so important as the 
mere fact of penetrating deep into Alabama. Discretion should be left 
to the officer commanding the expedition to go where, according to the 
information he may receive, he will best secure the objects named above." 



348 LIFE or ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

The rest of his instructions related to the time of starting, 
the least number of men which should compose the expedi- 
tion, and the manner of organizing the troops. Wilson's 
command was at the time cantoned along the Tennessee River 
from Waterloo to Gravelly Springs, and bj a vigorous system 
of drills and instruction had reached an efficient state of or- 
ganization, and was ready for an active campaign by the time 
specified ; but towards the end of February and during the 
earlier part of March, a season of rains intervened, causing 
the Tennessee and all its tributary streams to overflow their 
banks. As similar causes, however, delayed Canby, Stone- 
man and Sherman, the unity of the general plan was not de- 
stroyed. On the 22d of March, the streams having subsided 
and the weather become settled, the expedition, consisting of 
the divisions of E. M. McCook, Long, and Upton, and com- 
prising over 12,000 men well mounted and about 1500 dis- 
mounted, accompanied by a light canvass pontoon train, 
began its march. Northern Alabama being a broken, sterile 
region, the command was as widely disseminated as possible 
during the first five or six days, in order that subsistence 
and forage might be better obtained. The general course 
pursued was south-east, the columns all converging upon 
Jasper, crossing the east and west branches of the Black 
Warrior and passing through Elyton. So skillfully was the 
march combined that it was several days before the rebel 
authorities were able to determine whether Columbus, Miss., 
Tuscaloosa or Selma, Ala., was the objective point. Forrest 
commanding a cavalry department including all the menaced 
region, was then at West Point, Miss., but as soon as the 
movement of the national cavalry became fully developed, 
he gathered his forces and marched with all possible speed to 
the eastward, his advance arriving at Montevallo where it 
encountered Upton's division busily engaged in destroying 
the collieries, iron works and manufacturing establishments 
in the neighboring country. 

On the 31st of March, Wilson having dropped all impedi- 
ments between the east and west forks of the Black Warrior, 



LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 349 

reached Montevallo with the bulk of his force, and pushed 
Upton at once against the enemy, now confronting him In 
some force under Crossland and Roddy. A sharp action 
took place, but the rebels were speedily routed and driven 
from the field in the direction of Selma. Upton dashed for- 
ward In pursuit, followed closely by the rest of the corps, 
and came up again with the enemy, four or five miles further 
on, when, making a headlong charge, he again broke their 
lines, capturing fifty prisoners. Night put an end to the pur- 
suit, fifteen miles south of Montevallo, but at dawn the next 
morning it was resumed with great vigor. At Randolph, 
Upton captured a courier with despatches, from which it was 
learned that Forrest was now in front ; that W. H. Jack- 
son, with one of his divisions, had crossed the Black Warrior- 
at Tuscaloosa, and was moving on Centreville ; that Chal- 
mers, with another division, was at Marion, east of the 
Cahawba, moving towards Selma, and that Croxton, who 
had been detached by Wilson at Elyton to take Tuscaloosa, 
had encountered Jackson's rear at Trion. Shortly after- 
wards a note was received from Croxton, informing the corps 
commander that he should postpone his enterprise against 
Tuscaloosa and fight Jackson, with the view of preventing a 
concentration of Forrest's forces In front of Selma. Wilson 
had already sent a detachment to seize the bridge across the 
Cahawba at Centreville, and now detached McCook, with 
LaGrange's brigade, with orders to move rapidly by that 
place to Scottsboro, and assist Croxton in destroying Jack- 
son. The march was made with great celerity, and Jackson 
was found, but hearing nothing of Croxton, McCook, after a 
sharp skirmish, and the destruction of a number of factories, 
fell back to Centreville, destroyed the bridge, and rejoined 
Wilson at Selma. 

In the meanwhile, Wilson pressed forward with the main 
column towards the South, skirmishing constantly with 
Forrest, and finally encountered him strongly posted on 
Bigler's Creek, north of Plantersvllle. His force, consisting 
of Roddy's, Armstrong's, and Crossland's commands, was 



350 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

estimated at 5,000 men. Upton's division, with Alexan- 
der's brigade in front, moving by the left hand road, and 
Long's division, with Miller's brigade in front, by the right 
hand, came upon the enemy simultaneously, and charging 
him with irresistible ardor, drove him from the field, taking 
three guns and several hundred prisoners. Forrest himself 
narrowly escaped capture, and received several severe saber 
strokes, at the hands of Captain Taylor, whom he killed with 
a pistol shot. The pursuit was pressed vigorously beyond 
Plantersville, but the routed rebels could not be brought to a 
stand again. By two o'clock the next day. Long's advanced 
guard came in sight of Selma, and by four P. M., the entire 
force was in position ready to assault the fortifications by 
which the city was surrounded. Forrest had gathered be- 
hind them, a motley force consisting of about 7,000 men, but 
many of them were conscripts, and local militia, composed of 
old men and boys, ministers, doctors, editors, and judges. 
Armstrong's brigade, 1,500 strong, and Crossland's, 1,000 
strong were his main reliance, and as he had the assistance 
of Generals Roddy, Buford, Adams, and Armstrong, he con- 
sented to undertake the defense of the place, though his 
judgment was against it. Dick Taylor, his superior in rank, 
who secured his own safety by leaving in a special train after 
the appearance of the national cavalry, had given him posi- 
tive orders to hold the town at all hazards. A plan of the 
rebel works had already been secured, and after a reconnois- 
sance for the pur^Dose of verifying its accuracy, the attack 
was ordered. 

Upton, with 300 picked men, was instructed to penetrate 
a miry swamp covering the right of the rebel works, and 
after turning them, a general advance was to be made by the 
rest of his division together with Long's. This movement 
was not to begin till after dark ; but shortly after the details 
had been arranged for carrying it out, Chalmers' division 
attacked Long's rear guard with considerable vehemence. 
Long, therefore, sent a regiment to re-enforce his rear, and 
with great promptitude threw forward his dismounted line of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 351 

battle, con.^isting of 1,550 men and officers, led by Colonels 
MInty, Miller, McCormick and Briggs, commanded by Long 
in person. Armstrong's brigade, of equal strength, supported 
by sixteen guns held the works in their front ; but theae gal- 
lant veterans sprang forward with alacrity, reserving the fire 
of their deadly Spencers till within close range and then 
pouring it Avith withering effect. They clambered over the 
palisades, through the ditch and over the rebel parapet, 
sweeping everything before ^^lem. Upton was ordered for- 
ward at once, and in a few minutes the outer line was ours ; 
but the broken rebels were ralhed within a partially finished 
interior line, where they remained till charged again by the 
Fourth United States cavalry, Fourth Ohio and Seventeenth 
Indiana, supported by Upton's movement further to the left. 
Before such a terrible onset, resistance was of no avail. 
Selma, with 32 guns, 2,700 prisoners, 3,000 horses, and large 
quantities of military stores of every kind was ours. It was 
dark when the second line of works was carried, and hence 
Forrest and his Generals, with a large part of his force suc- 
ceeded in escaping. 

The gallant General Long, and Colonels Miller, Briggs 
and McCormick and 200 men were wounded, while Colonel 
Dobbs and 39 men were killed. The foundry, arsenal, and 
various factories were destroyed, and after tarrying a few 
days for the purpose of bringing forward the trains, and 
building a bridge across the Alabama River, Wilson crossed 
to the south side of the river, and turned his columns towards 
Montgomery. He had learned from Forrest that Croxton 
had pushed on towards Demopolis, and perceiving that the 
war was over in Central Alabama, he sent a colored courier 
down the river with a note, advising Canby to push at once 
for the interior. On the 12th of April, Wilson's leading 
division under McCook entered Montgomery without serious 
resistance, and in a short time had hoisted the national colors 
over the first rebel Capitol. Pausing only long enough to 
destroy the steamboats, cotton, and public stores found in the 
neighborhood, Wilson swept on towards Georgia, sending 



352 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

La Grange to West Point, while Upton and MInty (now 
commanding Long's division) were directed upon Columbus. 
The works covering the bridges leading into the latter place 
were assaulted under cover of darkness by 300 picked men 
commanded by Colonel Nobles of the Third Iowa cavalry, on 
the night of April 16th. 

Upton and WInslow led the men in person, and after a sharp 
fight, during which the rebels threw away large quantities 
of ammunition by an indiscriminate use of their artillery, the 
works and bridges were captured, and by ten o'clock the city 
itself with 1,200 prisoners and 52 guns. Our loss was bai'ely 
24 killed and wounded. La Grange was quite as successful 
at West Point, where he assaulted and took a strong enclosed 
work, containing several hundred rebels under the command 
of General Tyler, who was killed. The garrison of 265 men 
was captured, while the railroad stock from Atlanta and 
Montgomery, consisting of 19 locomotives and 250 cars was 
burnt. Having thus secured two crossings of the Chatta- 
hoochee, the exultant cavalry-men dashed forward to Macon, 
which place they captured on the 21st of April, with 1,200 
more prisoners, Including Generals Cobb, G. W. Smith, 
Mackall and Robertson. Wilson's headlong career towards 
Virginia, whither he was hurrying with his powerful body 
of horse to take part in the final struggle, was stopped at this 
place by the terms of the armistice agreed upon by Sherman 
and Johnston, and the first clear Intelligence was received of 
what had taken place in Virginia. Croxton who had doubled 
upon his track and pursued a more northern route, fighting 
militia, burning bridges, desti'oylng mills and capturing towns, 
arrived at Macon on the 30th of April. During this cam- 
paign of twenty-eight days, the cavalry corps marched on an 
average 525 miles, captured 5 fortified cities and 22 stands of 
colors, 280 pieces of artillery and 082 prisoners, and destroyed 
2 gun-boats, 99,000 stands of small arms, 235,0-00 bales of 
cotton, and all the mills, collieries, iron works, factories, rail- 
road bridges, rolling stock and military establishments, which 
were found on the line of march. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 353 

Besides this three regiments of colored troops, each over 
1,000 strong, were organized, armed, and equipped, during 
the halt at Selma. There was nothing destructible left be- 
hind Wilson that could benefit the rebel cause. His com- 
mand now held possession of the granary of the South, and 
barred the only road by which the rebel President and his 
Cabinet could hope to escape. In order to prevent this and 
to enforce the terms of the final capitulation, Wilson scat- 
tered his command on a line from Dulton, Ga,, to St. Marks, 
Fla., sent scouts into all parts of the country, stationed de- 
tachments at all the cross-roads and ferries, and succeeded in 
capturing Jefferson Davis while endeavoring to escape, dis- 
guised as a woman, from his camp near Irwinsville, Ga., on the 
morning of the 10th of May. The actual capture was made 
by Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin D. Pritchard, with a detach- 
ment of the Fourth Michigan cavalry, although Lieutenant- 
Colonel Henry Harnden of the First Wisconsin cavalry, first 
discovered the trail, and followed it to the place of capture, 
arriving upon the ground immediately after the seizure had 
taken place. The first entirely trustworthy information of 
Davis' movements, after entering Georgia, was obtained by 
Lieutenant Joseph O. Yeoman, of General Alexander's staflf. 
This enterprising young officer, with twenty scouts disguised 
in rebel uniforms, joined the Confederate Chief and his escort 
just after they crossed the Savannah River, and accompa- 
nied them to Washington, sending information to General 
Alexander every night, who transmitted it by telegraph to 
head-quarters. This information coupled with that obtained 
from other sources was the immediate cause of the movement 
which resulted in the arrest of the fugitives. 

General Canby, commanding the Military Division of the 

West Mississippi, with his head-quarters at New Orleans, 

had remained comparatively inactive during the summer and 

autumn of 1864. The Thirteenth corps, under General 

Granger, had participated in the operations by which the 

navy, after capturing Forts Gaines and Morgan, obtained 

control of Mobile Bay, but no general operations took jjlace 
23 



354 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

till March, 1865, at which time, in pursuance of the Lieuten- 
ant-General's instructions, the final campaign against Mobile 
■was begun. Dick Taylor, who had been called from the 
trans-Mississippi Department, held the supreme command 
in Mississippi and Alabama, and had concentrated a force of 
about 15,000 men, under General Maury, at Mobile. Gen- 
eral Canby's forces consisted of the Thirteenth and Sixteenth 
corps, one division of colored infantry, and one division of 
cavalry, in all about 30,000 effective men. Grierson, instead 
of moving from Yicksburg, as General Grant had intended, 
was taken to New Orleans, from which place he crossed 
Lake Pontchartrain, and marched thence to Mobile Point. 
Canby's plan of operations was exceedingly complicated, 
owing to the peculiar character of the theatre in Avhich he 
was compelled to operate, but withal, it was executed with 
great despatch and regularity. Steele, with a division of 
blacks, marched from Pensacola, towards Blakely, above 
Mobile ; Granger marched around Bon Secours' Bay, while 
Smith's corps crossed the bay in transports, and landed at 
Fish Eiver on the 21st of March. After waiting two days 
for the arrival of Granger, who had taken the wrong road 
and had been delayed by rains, the two corps pushed for- 
ward, and on the 27th of April invested Spanish Fort ; 
Steele arrived shortly afterwards, and the next day the siege 
was regulai'ly begun, by the construction of parallels, ap- 
proaches and batteries. By the 3d of April the result was 
no longer doubtful ; and on the 8th our batteries were opened, 
and after a terrific bombardment throughout the day suc- 
ceeded in silencing the enemy's guns. The fort was taken 
possession of during the night by one of Carr's brigades, act- 
ing under the direction of Colonel Geddes and Captain Buford 
"Wilson, Assistant Adjutant-General, but the garrison, with 
the exception of about 65 men,' had escaped. Thirty-five 
heavy guns and much ammunition were left to the victors. 

The guns were at once turned upon batteries Tracy and 
Huger near the mouth of the Tensaw, and after a short time 
compelled the rebels to evacuate those positions also. The 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 355 

way for gun-boats was now opened to Blakely, a remarkably 
strong position overlooking the river, which had been invested 
several days before, on the land side, and although it seemed 
to be capable of indefinite defence, the victorious Union 
troops made short work of it. As soon as the gun-boats 
appeared Steele ordered an assault, which took place at 
half-past five o'clock on the 9th. Garrard's division, sup- 
ported by two brigades of Andrews' division and Dennis' 
brigade of Veatch's division, dashed forward, reached the 
abattis, and tearing it away under a heavy fire of canister 
and grape, they leaped into the ditch, clambered up the scarp 
of the fort, and crossed the parapet while two brigades 
farther to the right gained an entrance and captured General 
Thomas with 1,000 prisoners. The gallantry of men and offi- 
cers in this assault was most conspicuous ; the rebels, with the 
determination to make their defence as desperate as possible, 
covered the approaches to their work with torpedos, which 
exploded as the assailants pressed forward, and although 
many men were killed it did not intimidate their companions. 
Under a galling fire of canister and grape, round shot and 
musketry, they steadily advanced, till the victory was complete. 
The right of our line was led by the colored troops of General 
Hawkins' command, who in remembrance of Fort Pillow, 
showed the determination of revenge, and dashed into the ditch 
and over the works, driving the INIississippians before their ter- 
rible energy. By seven o'clock the national colors floated over 
Blakely, and 3,000 prisoners, 32 guns, 4,000 small arms, and 
16 flags were trophies of the victory. The Union loss was 
nearly 1,000 men, while the rebels, fighting under cover, lost 
only 500, but the cost was not too much ; Mobile, with all its 
dependencies, fell with Blakely, and during the night Maury 
retreated with 9,000 men towards Central Alabama, leaving 
1,000 prisoners, 132 guns, and much valuable property. 
Canby now sent one column at once up the Alabama River, to 
Selma, another to Montgomery, and the cavalry under Grier- 
son, through the country to Eufaula, thus placing another cor- 
don of armed men in the path of the flying rebel President. 



CHAPTEK XXXV. 

SITUATIOX IX FRONT OF PETERSBURG — THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC 
TO ACCOMPLISH ITS OWN TASK — MR. LINCOLN'S VIEWS — GRANT'S 
INSTRUCTIONS TO SHERIDAN — SHERIDAN MOVES FROM WINCHES- 
TER — DEFEAT OF EARLY — SHERIDAN AT THE WHITE HOUSE — HE 
JOINS GRANT — GRANT'S APPREHENSIONS FOR SHERMAN — REVIEW 
OF OPERATIONS — THE, FINALE APPROACHING — THE ORDERS FOB 
THE GENERAL MOVEMENT — PLANS OF OPERATIONS — LEE's SORTIE 
AGAINST grant's RIGHT — LEE'S PLAN FOILED — PRELIMINARIES — 
BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS — SHERIDAN'S SUCCESS — REJOICINGS IN 
THE ARMY — LEE DECIDES TO ABANDON RICHMOND AND PETERS- 
BURG — JEFF. DAVIS PREPARES FOR FLIGHT — THE OVERWHELMING 
ASSAULT — A FIERCE STRUGGLE — LEE ABANDONS PETERSBURG — 
grant's army in PURSUIT — LEE ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE MOUN- 
TAINS — SHERIDAN WATCHFUL — HE CAPTURES THE REBEL TRAIN — 
lee's PROGRESS CHECKED — CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN GRANT 
AND LEE — THE SURRENDER OF LEE'S ARMY — ITS RESULT — JOHN- 
STON'S SURRENDER — SHERIDAN'S MOVEMENT TOWARDS THE MEX- 
ICAN FRONTIER — grant's OPINIONS IN REGARD TO MEXICO — DIS- 
BANDING OF THE VOLUNTEERS — GRANT PROMOTED TO THE FULL 
GRADE OF GENERAL. 

During the course of events which resulted from his mag- 
nificent combinations in the "West and South, Grant himself 
was not idle, but all through the winter maintained such a 
menacing attitude in front of Petersburg as to compel Lee to 
stand constantly on the defensive. At no time would it have 
been safe for that General to detach a brigade from his be- 
leaguered forces for the assistance of Hood and Hardee. 
Before the spring campaign commenced, the President urged 
Grant to bring Sherman's army from Savannah to City Point, 
and to join it with the armies near Petersburg for a final and 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 357 

crushing blow, but the far-seeing Lieutenant-General stead- 
fastly adhered to his plan of keeping Sherman in the interior, 
marching and destroying as well as barring all lines of retreat. 
He had other reasons not purely military, but rather belong- 
ing to the domain of statesmanship which influenced him in 
requiring the Army of the Potomac to accomplish the task 
which it had undertaken. If the gallant fighters of the West 
should be allowed to join their strength with that of their less 
fortunate, but not less courageous, compatriots from the East 
before the final blow was struck, it would give rise to never- 
ending jealousy, and never-satisfied claims for the honor of 
having conquered the last stronghold of the rebellion. 

Patriotism is a controlling characteristic of American sol- 
diers, in all matters concerning the public enemy, but amongst 
themselves, they are slow to sink their individuality in defer- 
ence to the claims of others, and therefore Grant's appre- 
hension that the arrival of the Western army would not be 
productive of harmony, was probably well founded. At all 
events, Mr. Lincoln, with his usual candor, frankly admitted 
that he had not considered the question in that light, and 
after reflection agreed with Grant, that if the Armies of the 
Potomac and James could, without assistance, crush Lee's 
army, they had better be permitted to do it. Grant really 
entertained more fear of failure for Sherman's movement, than 
he did for his own ; and instead of drawing support from 
him, except of that moral kind which would come with a 
victorious march northward, he exerted himself to the utmost 
to send troops to Sherman. Schofield and Terry, with a 
column of 25,000 men, went out from Wilmington, menacing 
the rear of the rebel army gathering under Johnston. Stone- 
man was ordered to cross the mountains from East Tennessee, 
and after breaking the railroads, was expected to form a 
junction with the marching columns, and in order to make 
all the operations outside of his own immediate presence, 
secure beyond the chance of failure. Grant directed Sheridan, 
now the undisputed master of North Virginia, to cut off all 
hostile communication from Eichmond with that region, and 



358 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

then to move by the way of Lynchburg, to the westward of 
Danville and join Sherman. 

On the 27th of February, Sheridan, with 10,000 cavah-y 
under Merritt and Custer, moved from Winchester, and on 
the 1st of jMarch secured the bridge across the north fork of 
the Shenandoah at Mount Crawford, in spite of the efforts 
of the rebels to destroy if. He reached Staunton the next 
day, driving the rebels before him in the direction of Waynes- 
borough. Without pausing he pushed forward in the same 
direction ; found the enemy under Early occupying a strongly 
entrenched position, and with audacious confidence, spurning 
the preliminary of even a reconnoissance, he dashed headlong 
upon their works, sweeping over them with the violence and 
ease of a tornado, capturing 1,600 prisoners, 11 guns with 
horses and caissons complete, 200 wagons and 17 battle-flags. 
Early, with one orderly, fled to the mountains and disappeared 
from the war. Sheridan, sending his prisoners back to Win- 
chester, pushed forward to Charlotteville, breaking up the 
railroad and burning the bridges as he went. At Charlotte- 
ville he stayed his rapid swoop till his trains could overtake 
him. The roads being exceedingly bad, several days elapsed 
before he could resume his march ; and owing to the delays 
already experienced, he i-elinquished the idea of going to 
Petersburg. On the morning of the Gth of March, dividing 
his force into two columns, he sent one to Scottville under 
Merritt, with directions to destroy the James River Canal as 
far up as New Market, while Custer moved toward Lynch- 
burg destroying the railroads as far as Amherst Court House, 
and there forming a junction Avith Merritt at New Market. 
The James being very high, Sheridan could not cross it with 
the small number ol pontoons that he had brought with him, 
and the enemy having destroyed the permanent bridges span- 
ning that stream at Hard wicks ville and elsewhere, it was im- 
possible to reach the Southside Eoad as he desired. Under 
these circumstances, having done all the damage he could on 
the north side of the river, there was nothing left for him but 
to return to Winchester or to march to the White House and 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 359 

thence to the James Kiver below Richmond for the purpose 
of formino- a junction with the armies about Petersburg. 

" Fortunately," says General Grant, " he chose the latter 
course," and set out at once by the canal towards Richmond, 
destroying the locks and cutting the embankment as far down 
as Goochland. Thence he moved to Columbia, communicat- 
ing from that place with Grant, and halting a day for the 
purpose of closing up his columns. On the 19th of March 
he reached the White House. After refitting and resting his 
command, he moved across to the James and rejoined Grant, 
from whom he had been absent nearly nine months. 

Still apprehensive for Sherman, and fearful that Lee, as 
the toils were drawn closer and closer about him, might un- 
dertake to withdraw his army to the mountains, the Lieuten- 
ant-General, on the 7th of March, ordered Thomas to repair 
the railroad in East Tennessee, and to throw a good force 
forward to fortify Bull's Gap, where he could hold himself 
in readiness for a campaign towards Lynchburg, or into 
North Carolina. Having taken this final precaution, and 
fully matured his plans, the time was at hand for the forces 
under his immediate command to strike the final blow. He 
had made his preparations with consummate skill, infusing into 
the armies, from the Potomac to the Mississippi, an uncon- 
querable spirit, and direot'ng them with a skill and unity 
never before realiz* \ in modern warfare. Under his chosen 
leaders they had ceased to be " a balky team," and were 
now pressing forward with a zeal and harmony that made 
light of labor, and darkened the closing days of the rebellion 
with a series of overwhelming defeats. 

« Thus," says General Grant, " it will be seen that in March, 1805, 
General Canby was moving an adequate force against Mobile and the 
army defending it, under Dick Taylor ; Thomas was pushing out two 
large and well-appointed cavalry expeditions, — one from Middle Ten- 
nessee, under Brevet Major-General Wilson, against the enemy's vital 
points in Alabama ; the other from East Tennessee, under Major-Gen- 
eral Stoneman, towards Lynchburg ; and assembling the remainder of 
his available forces preparatory to offensive operations from East Ten- 
nessee. General Sheridan's cavalry was at the White House ; the 



360 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Armies of the Potomac and James were confronting the enemy under 
Lee in his defences of Richmond and Petersburg ; General Sherman, 
•with his armies reinforced by that of General Schofield, was at Golds- 
boro ; General Pope was making preparations for a campaign against 
the enemy, Kirby Smith and Price, west of the Mississippi ; and General 
Hancock was concentrating a force in the vicinity of Winchester, Va., 
to guard against invasion, or to operate offensively, as might prove 
necessary." 

The orders for a general movement of the armies operating 
against Richmond were issued to General Meade on the 24th 
of March, and as one object of this work is to show the 
methods resorted to by the Lieutenant-Gcneral, in the conduct 
of military operations, they are inserted entire, as follows : 

" On the 29th instant, the armies operating against Richmond will 
be moved by our left for the double purpose of turning the enemy out 
of his present position around Petersburg, and to insure the success of 
the cavalry under General Sheridan, which will start at the same time, 
in its efforts to reach and destroy the Southside and Danville Rail- 
roads. Two corps of the Army of the Potomac will be moved at first 
in two columns, taking the two roads crossing Hatchery's Run nearest 
where the present line held by us strikes that stream, both moving 
towards Dinwiddle Court House. 

" The cavalry under General Sheridan, joined by the division now 
under General Davies, will move at the same time by the Weldon Road 
and the Jerusalem plank-road, turning west from the latter before 
crossing the Nottoway, and west with the whole column before reach- 
ing Stony Creek. General Sheridan will then move independently 
under other instructions which will be given him. All dismounted 
cavalry belonging to the Army of the Potomac, and the dismounted 
cavalry from the Middle Military Division, not required for guarding 
property belonging to their arm of service, will report to Brigadier- 
General Benham, to be added to the defences of City Point. Major- 
General Parke will be left in command of «,11 the army left for holding 
the lines about Petersburg and City Point, subject, of course, to orders 
from the Commander of the Army of the Potomac. The Ninth Army 
Corps will be left intact to hold the present line of works so long as 
the whole line now occupied by us is held. If, however, the troops to 
the left of the Ninth corps are withdrawn, then the left of the corps 
may be thrown back so as to occupy the position held by the army 
prior to the capture of the Weldon Road. All troops to the left of the 
Ninth corps will be held in readiness to move at the shortest notice by 
such routes as may be designated when the order is given. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 361 

" General Ord will detach three divisions, two white and one colored, 
or so much of tliem as he can, and hold his present lines, and march 
for the present, left of the Army of the Potomac. In the absence of 
further orders, or until further orders are given, the white divisions 
will follow the left column of the Army of the Potomac, and the col- 
ored divisions the right column. During the movement, Major-General 
Weitzel will be left in command of all the forces remaining behind 
from the Army of the James. 

" The movement of troops from the Army of the James will com- 
mence on the night of the 27th instant. General Ord will leave be- 
hind the minimum number of cavalry necessary for picket duty, in 
the absence of the main army. A cavalry expedition from General 
Ord's command will also be started from Suffolk, to leave there on 
Saturday, the 1st of April, under Colonel Sumner, for the purpose of 
cutting the railroad about Hick's Ford. This, if accomplished, will have 
to be a surprise, and therefore from three to five hundred men will be 
sufficient. They should, however, be supported by all the infjiutry that 
can be spared from Norfolk and Portsmouth, as far out as to where the 
cavalry crosses the Blackwater. The crossing should probably be at 
Vinton. Should Colonel Sumner succeed in reaching the Weldon 
Road, he will be instructed to do all the damage possible to the tri- 
angle of roads between Hick's Ford, Weldon, and Gaston. The railroad 
bridge at Weldou being fitted up for the passage of carriages, it might 
be practicable to destroy any accumulation of supplies the enemy may 
have collected south of the Roanoke. All the troops will move with 
four days' rations in haversacks, and eight days' in wagons. To avoid 
as much hauling as possible, and to give the Army of the James the 
same number of days' supply with the Army of the Potomac, General 
Ord will direct his commissary and quartermaster to have sufficient 
supplies delivered at the terminus of the road to fill up in passing. 
Sixty rounds of ammunition per man will be taken in wagons, and as 
much grain as the transportation on hand will carry, after taking the 
specified amount of other supplies. The densely wooded country in 
which the army has to operate, making the use of much artillery im- 
practicable, the amount taken with the army will be reduced to six or 
eight guns to each division, at the option of the army commanders. 

" All necessary preparations for carrying these directions into opera- 
tion may be commenced at once. The reserves of the Ninth corps 
should be massed as much as possible. Whilst I would not now order 
an unconditional attack on the enemy's line by them, they should be 
ready, and should make the attack if the enemy weakens his line in 
their front, without waiting for orders. In case they carry the line, 
then the whole of the Ninth corps should follow up, so as to join or 
co-operate with the balance of the army. To prepare for this, the 



362 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Ninth corps -will have rations issued to them, the same as the balance 
of the army. General Weitzel -will keep vigilant watch upon his front, 
and if found at all practicable to break through at any point, he will 
do so. A success north of the James should be followed up with great 
promptness. An attack will not be feasible unless it is found that the 
enemy has detached largely. In that case it may be regarded as evi- 
dent that the enemy are relying upon their local reserves principally 
for the defence of Richmond. Preparations may be made for abandon- 
ing all the line north of the James, except enclosed works — only to be 
abandoned, however, after a break is made in the lines of the enemy. 
" By theSt! instructions a large part of the armies operating against 
Richmond is left behind. The enemy, knowing this, may, as an only 
chance, strip their lines to the merest skeleton, in the hope of advan- 
tage not being taken of it, whilst they hurl everything against the mov- 
ing column, and return. It can not be impressed too strongly upon 
commanders of troops left in the trenches, not to allow this to occur 
without taking advantage of it. The very fact of the enemy coming 
out to attack, if he does so, might be regarded as almost conclusive evi- 
dence of such a weakening of his lines. I would have it particularly 
enjoined upon corps commanders that, in case of an attack from the 
enemy, those not attacked are not to wait for orders from the com- 
manding officer of the army to which they belong, but that they will 
move promptly, and notify the commander of their action. I would, 
also, enjoin the same action on the part of division commanders when 
other parts of their corps are engaged. In like manner, I would urge 
the importance of following up a repulse of the enemy." 

But Lee, who had long contemplated the evacuation of 
Petersburg, had also formed a plan of operations, based upon 
a vigorous offensive. Early on the morning of the 25th of 
March he threw forward Gordon's division against the right 
of Grant's line held by the Kinth corps, at Hare's Hill or Fort 
Steedman. The concentration of troops for this attack was 
made with secrecy, and as the sortie began before daylight, it 
fell quite unexpectedly upon the advanced works of the 
Union line. A brief struggle ensued resulting in the loss of 
the works and many guns, but the troops behind forming 
promptly, advanced to regain the lost ground. Meade threw 
forward the Second and Sixth corps at the same time, and 
after a sharp contest not only dislodged Gordon, but captured 
1,900 prisoners. Lee's object was doubtless to break through 
Grant's right and seize his railroad to City Point, thus com- 



I 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 363 

pelling a contraction of the Union left and securing for the 
rebels an opportunity to abandon Petersburg and throw 
themselves into the open country for the purpose of uniting 
with Johnston. This well conceived plan was admirably 
foiled ; Grant was not changed in his resolution in any way 
by it. It neither accelerated nor retarded his movements ; 
but he delayed to consult with Sherman, whose army was 
now at Goldsboro, while he was in person hastening to City 
Point, with assurances of his ability to move forward to any 
designated point for the purpose of co-operating in the final 
movement. Grant directed him to demonstrate upon Raleigh 
and then turning north-eastward to cross the Roanoke at 
Gaston and move forward to Burkesville, or join the armies 
operating against Richmond as he might think best. He 
explained fully the plan of his own movement, and informed 
his Lieutenant that in case of failure or only partial success, 
Sheridan would be detached to move down the Danville Rail- 
road and form a junction with the army from the West. 

" I had spent days of anxiety," says General Grant, " lest each morn- 
ing should bring the report that the enemy had retreated the night 
hefore. I was firmly convinced that Sherman's crossing the Roanoke 
would be the signal for Lee to leave. With Johnston and Lee com- 
bined, a long, tedious, and expensive campaign, consuming most of the 
summer, might become necessary. By moving out, I would put the 
army in better condition for pursuit, and would at least, by the de- 
struction of the Danville Road, retard the concentration of the two 
armies of Lee and Johnston, and cause the enemy to abandon much 
material that he might otherwise save. I therefore determined not to 
delay the movement ordered." 

On the 28th of March, (ic informed Sheridan that the 
Fifth corps and Second corps would move at an early hour 
next morning, and directed him to march in the same direc- 
tion with his cavalry, but without confining himself to any 
particular road or roads. The object of his march was to 
find and fall upon the enemy's right flank and rear, with the 
intention of compelling him to abandon his entrenched posi- 
tion in front, and seek the open field for battle. Sheridan 
was allowed ample latitude in carrying his orders into effect, 



364 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

but was urged to fight as hotly as circumstances would per- 
mit, should he find a favorable opportunity, receiving the 
assurance that the infantry would attack with vigor, or fol- 
low in close pursuit. Should it be found impracticable to 
force the enemy from his works, he was in that case to cut 
loose and push for the Danville Railroad, and after doing all 
the damage he could upon rebel communications he was 
authorized to return to Grant or to proceed to join Sherman 
in North Carolina. 

The next day, at the appointed hour, the different corps 
moved forward as directed. Warren marched by the Qua- 
ker Road, with Griffin in advance skirmishing heavily with 
Bushrod Johnson ; Humphreys crossed Hatcher's Run and 
pushed through the dense woods to Warren's right ; while 
Sheridan trotted briskly by the usual route to Dinwiddle 
Court House, some six miles to the left and rear of the Fifth 
corps. Ord had already crossed from Deep Bottom, and 
taken his place on Wright's left, while Parke still held his 
old position, thus extending the Union line, without a break, 
" from the Appomattox to Dinwiddle." The various move- 
ments of the day were made with such regularity and pre- 
cision, and the prospect at night was so favorable, that Grant, 
in order to make sure of Sheridan's powerful co-operation, 
wrote : 

" / now feel like ending the matter if it is possible to do so before going 
back. I do not want you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the ene- 
my's roads at present. In the morning, push around the enemy if you 
can and get on to his right and rear. The movements of the enemy's 
cavalry may, of course, modify your action. We will act altogether as 
one army here till it is seen what can be done with the enemy." 

Early the next morning, notwithstanding a heavy rain- 
storm during the night, and throughout the day, Sheridan 
pushed forward to Five Forks, where he found the enemy 
strongly entrenched. Warren's corps advanced, crossing the 
Boydton plank-road, and after heavy skirmishing took up a 
position in front of the rebel works along the White Oak 
road. Humphreys drove straight forward with his right on 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 365 

Hatcher's Run, while Ord, Wright and Parke made demon- 
strations along their respective fronts, with the view of 
ascertaining the feasibility of an assault. Lee, in extending 
towards Five Forks, seems to have weakened his left con- 
siderably, discovering which, both Wright and Parke ex- 
pressed the opinion that they could assault successfully. 
Grant, therefore, decided to extend the left no further, but to 
re-enforce Sheridan with a corps of infantry, which would 
enable that officer to "cut loose" and fall upon the rebel 
rear, while the other corps should assault in front. Prepara- 
tions were made to carry this determination into effect, but 
the sodden condition of the roads caused a considerable delay. 
On the morning of the 31st, Warren having expressed a 
belief that he could take the White Oak road, was directed 
to do so, though previous instructions had been issued from 
Meade's head-quarters suspending all movements for the day. 
The operations of Warren, however, were not fully begun 
when Lee, who had massed a heavy force on his right, as- 
sumed the offensive, falling upon the advanced brigade under 
Winthrop, sweeping it back upon the rest of the division, 
throwing the whole into confusion, and copipelling it to recoil 
upon Crawford's division. Warren, in the meantime, threw 
forward Griffin's division, and after a gallant struggle checked 
the rebels till the arrival of Miles' division of the Second 
corps ultimately enabled him to drive them back to and be- 
yond their works on the White Oak road. 

Sheridan, who had advanced to Five Forks and made a 
lodgment at that place, now caught the brunt of the rebel 
attack. Rapidly massing infantry and cavalry in his front, 
they fell upon him with great fury, driving him, after, a con- 
tinuous and bloody battle lasting till nightfall, nearly to Din- 
widdle Court House. During the entire afternoon, Sheridan 
managed his force with great skill ; dismounting all his avail- 
able men, and sending the horses to the rear, he formed an 
extended line of skirmishers, whose operations were fiivored 
by the heavy forest through which he was compelled to 
retire. The rebels, after pressing him back some distance, 



366 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

swung off towards his right as If to march towards the 
Boydton road for the purpose of attacking Warren in flank 
and rear. Divining their intention and perceiving a fine 
opening, he threw forward his left, under Gibbs and Gregg, 
striking the enemy in rear and flank, and compelling them to 
change front at once. After this, they continued to press 
heavily upon him, but by hard fighting he succeeded in 
retarding their advance long enough to permit Merritt to 
throw up a rail breastwork in front of Dinwiddle, behind 
which, a final and successful stand was made. During the 
afternoon he notified the Lieutenant-General of his peril- 
ous situation, and Grant sent him MacKenzIe's, (formerly 
Kautz's) division of cavalry, and Ayres' division from War- 
ren's corps. During the night, Meade, by a confidential 
order, directed Warren and Humphreys to contract their 
lines and retire to the east side of the Boydton plank-road, 
apparently looking to an abandonment of the advantages 
already gained, if not of the entire movement. But Grant, 
with immovable resolution, shortly afterwards directed War- 
ren, with the rest of his corps, to hasten to Dinwiddle, not- 
withstanding the Intense darkness of the night, while Ilum- 
jihreys was instructed to maintain his jiosltlon on the Boydton 
road. This Idea seems to have occurred to Warren at the 
same time, but unfortunately the bridges across Gravelly Eun 
were down, and hence the movement was much delayed. 
In the meantime, the rebels fearing that Ayers would fidl 
upon their rear, about midnight abandoned their position in 
Sheridan's front, and fell back to Five Forks. This Avas the 
turning point in the campaign, for at an early hour the irre- 
pressible and " belligerent Sheridan," clothed now by the 
Lieutenant-General with ample authority over all the troops 
within his reach, moved once more confidently towards Five 
Forks, (so-called because of its being the point of radiation 
for five roads or paths.) But the infantry having been de- 
layed by the darkness of the night and tlie long distance to 
be marched, the day wore on well Into the afternoon before 
the general attack could be made. Sheridan had with him 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 367 

about 9,000 cavalry, commanded by Merritt and MacKenzle, 
and about 12,500 infimtry of the Fifth corps. His plan of 
operations was exceedingly brilliant. After reaching the im- 
mediate vicinity of Five Forks, he threw forward most of the 
cavalry, menacing a direct attack, while Warren's corps was 
moved to the right by the Gravelly Run Church, for the 
purpose of striking and breaking through the enemy's left. 
MacKenzie was ordered to reach the White Oak road and 
cover the right flank and rear of the infantry. The first part 
of the plan was executed with great skill, by Merritt, who 
pushed Davies and Custer vigorously against the rebel skir- 
mishers, by two o'clock driving them into their entrench- 
ments in front of Five" Forks, and then demonstrated heavily 
upon the extreme right of the rebel line. MacKenzie's move- 
ment to the White Oak road was also fortunate and oppor- 
tune, for shortly after he struck the road he encountered a 
rebel force moving towards Five Forks, and attacking them 
boldly, drove them back towards Petersburg. At length 
Warren reached the position assigned him, and advanced 
straight upon the White Oak road, Crawford on the right, 
Ayers on the left, and Griffin in support. Immediately after 
striking the road, the corps wheeled to the left till it was 
faced westward, at right angles with its original direction. 
MacKenzie was then thrown forward, to the right of Craw- 
ford. In this order the assault was made ; but Ayers, 
swinging on a fixed pivot and advancing, at once found him- 
self hotly engaged and thrown into considerable confusion 
before the rest of the corps had completed the wheehng 
movement. Griffin was thrown forward to his assistance, 
and the two veteran divisions now sprang out with alacritj, 
breaking through abattis and sweeping over the enemy's 
works with an irresistible impulse. The heavy firing on this 
front was the signal for Merritt to sound the charge for the 
cavalry, and, eager for the fray, the gallant horsemen dashed 
straight at the works in their front, sweeping over them like 
a tornado. The rebels finding themselves assailed in front, 
flank and rear, gave way and fled in hopeless confusion, hotly 



368 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

pursued by the victorious cavalry-men. They left behind 
them 6,000 prisoners, 4 guns and many colors, while the 
Union loss did not exceed 1,000, all told. Merritt and Mac- 
Kenzie chased the fugitives westward till far into the night. 
The victory was complete, and put a fitting climax to the 
fixme which Sheridan had won at Stone River, Chickamauga, 
Chattanooga, and in'the Valley of Virginia. 

The news was Instantly borne to Grant and communicated 
to the army, where it was received with deafening cheers by 
the gallant troops who gathered confidence for the morrow, 
feeling that their reward was near at hand, and that the dawn 
w^ould usher in their last struggle against the rebellion. 
Fearing during the night lest the rebel chieftain should 
gather in his detached forces, desert the entrenchments he 
had held so faithfully, and fall with his entire army upon 
Sheridan, the Lieutenant- General sent Miles' division from 
Humphreys' corps to re-enforce him, and caused the guns 
and mortars all along the investing lines to open fire upon 
the hostile position and continue the bombardment till four 
o'clock in the morning, at which time a general assault was 
ordered. Lee in the meanwhile had also heard the news 
from Five Forks, and decided at once that Petersburg and 
Eichmond must be abandoned ; but he was too good a soldier 
to go in disorder or confusion and therefore maintained his 
position till the proper arrangements could be made for the 
retreat. He made known to Davis, however, the necessity 
which had been precipitated by the disastrous defeat of his 
right wing. The rebel President received the news while at 
church, and left instantly to prepare for flight from the capi- 
tal he had declared it would be cowardice to abandon. Pre- 
cisely at four o'clock on Sunday morning, April 2d, the 
impatient soldiers of the Union leaped forth in one over- 
whelming assault, extending from the Appomattox to Hatch- 
er's Ivun. Wright's Sixth corps, which had returned from 
the Shenandoah filled with confidence, swept forward from 
the center with the impulse of an avalanche, carrying 
everything before it; glacis and ditch, parapet and rifle- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 369 

trench alike failed to check their progress. Parke, with 
the Ninth corps on the right, and Ord, with the Army 
of the James on the left, joined nobly in this crushing and 
annihilating assault. Parke was checked after carrying the 
outer line of works, but Wright and Ord pushing their 
destructive march through all obstacles, capturing cannons 
and prisoners, reached the Boydton road and turned towards 
Petersburg. Humphreys hearing the sounds of a triumphant 
advance from the right, threw forward his Hne and swept 
over the Confederate works. Sending a part of his corps 
towards Sutherland Station, with the rest he pushed on 
towards Petersburg in support of Wright an^l Ord. Before 
eight o'clock the entire chain of exterior defences had been 
captured by the Union troops, but without halting to count 
the spoils, they pressed forward against the strong Interior 
line which had been drawn close about the city. The highest 
enthusiasm prevailed, officers and men felt an elasticity and 
prowess that nothing but victory can give, corps vicing with 
corps, division with division, man with man. But the works 
against which they were now hurling themselves were as 
strong as those of a feudal citadel, and their defenders though 
rudely shaken from their fancied security, and depressed by 
the fate whose baleful shadows were but too plainly visible, 
stood to their guns, and clasped their muskets with the cour- 
age of brave men. 

As the surging lines and serried columns of the assailants 
dashed bravely forward, they were received with a deadly 
fire, and after a brief struggle were hurled back, broken and 
bleeding, to reform and dash forward again and again. By 
noon the strife had ceased, and Lee had gained a brief but 
delusive respite from the troubles now gathering so rapidly 
about his intrepid but fated army. During the night he 
quietly abandoned the works about Petersburg, and with- 
drew to the north side of the Appomattox, turning the heads 
of his columns westward along the northern bank of that 
stream. By daylight he was sixteen miles away, having 
collected the bulk of his army not far from Chesterfield. At 
24 



370 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

early dawn the fliglit was discovered, and Grant, without a 
moment's delay, put his army in motion. Sheridan, followed 
by the Fifth corps, marched by the most northern route 
directly towards Burkesville ; Ord, along the Southside Eail- 
road, followed closely by the Second and Sixth corps towards 
Jettersville. The Union forces had gained the shorter line, 
but Lee hurried forward with the energy of desjDair, hoping 
to pass beyond Burkesville and reach North Carolina where 
he could join Johnston, and make still another struggle. On 
the morning of the 4th, he reached Amelia Court House, 
where he expected to find rations for the army, but the cars 
which brought »them had gone to Richmond to remove the 
rebel archives, and by a strange fatality carried with them 
the rations upon which the rebel army depended for its lease 
of life. His troops were weak and hungry, and were there- 
fore allowed to break up into small parties for the sake of 
foraging. Two days were thus lost, whilst Grant drew his 
cordon closer about them. Sheridan had reached the Dan- 
ville Road, seven miles in advance of Lee, and planted the 
Fifth corps firmly across it, while the cavalry watchfully 
guarded every road by which a forward movement could be 
made. Grant directing everything in person, reached Wilson 
Station on the Southside Railroad, on the 5th. Ord ari'ived 
at Burkesville the same day, and by night the entire army 
stood ready to bar Lee's further progress southward. Forget- 
ting nothing that could possibly render the national triumph 
more complete, the Lieutenant-General wrote to Sherman : 

" All indications now are that Lee will attempt to reach Danville ■ 
with the remnant of his force. Sheridan, who was up with him last 
night, reports all that is left, ' horse, foot, and dragoons,' at 20,000, 
much demoralized. We hope to reduce the number one-half I shall 
push on to Burkesville, and if a stand is made at Danville, I will, in a 
very few days, go there. If you possibly can do so, push on from 
where you are, and let us see if we cannot finish the job with Lee's 
and Johnston's armies. Whether it will be better for you to strike for 
Greensboro or nearer to Danville, you will be better able to judge when 
you receive this. Rebel armies now are the only strategic points to strike 
at" 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 371 

But Lee had already discovered the hopelessness of trying 
to force his way through the Union lines towards the South, 
and during the night of the 5th resumed his march towards 
High Bridge and Lynchburg for the purpose of reaching the 
mountains of South-western Virginia ; Sheridan, however, 
with sleepless vigilance discovered the march almost as soon 
as begun, and hurrying forward with the cavalry, leaving all 
the infantry to Meade who had overtaken him at Jettersville, 
he hung upon the flank of the rebel column. Near Sailor's 
Creek, six miles east of High Bridge, he dashed in upon Lee, 
severing his marching column and seizing 400 wagons, 16 
guns, and many prisoners. By repeatedly charging the rebel 
train guard with terrible earnestness, he succeeded in holding 
it till Wright with the Sixth corps, now hastening forward, 
arrived upon the field. After a vigorous combat, during 
which the Sixth corps attacked in front and the cavalry in 
rear, Sheridan compelled the enemy to surrender at discre- 
tion. It was found that three divisions of the rebel army 
under Ewell had laid down their arms. AVhile this action 
was In progress, Humphreys, pushing farther to the north, 
struck another column of rebels and captured 200 wagons, 
many guns, prisoners and flags. At the same time Grant 
threw Ord forward in the direction of Farmville. His lead- 
ing brigade under General Read, by marching rapidly suc- 
ceeded in throwing itself in front of Lee's advance guard, 
near that place, and by heroic resolution checked the rebels 
till Ord with the rest of his army arrived. During the night 
Lee fled again, recrossing the Appomattox, and pushing 
towards the west, but with the faintest streak of light the 
pursuing army hurried forward with unflagging energy: 

Lee's force was now reduced to less than half its original 
number. The divisions of Mahone and Field about 10,000 
strong were all of that once splendid organization now in a fit 
condition for marching or fighting ; but they had been sorely 
tried in covering the rear and forcing the disordered strag- 
glers forward in their weary flight. Early on the 7th, Bar- 
low's division, leading Humphreys' corps, pressed forward 



372 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GKANT. 

to High Bridge in time to capture eighteen guns and to save 
the bridge from destruction. Humphreys continued the 
pursuit by two roads, sending Miles upon one and Barlow 
upon the other. The former soon came up with Mahone, 
strongly entrenched five miles north of Farmville, and at- 
tacked him with great vigor but was severely repulsed, losing 
nearly six hundred men. But this was only a temporary 
gleam of victory for the rebels. Meade hurrying the Army 
of the Potomac onward in pursuit allowed the rebel host no 
place of rest. On the 8th, Sheridan spurred his jaded horses 
forward by the road through Prospect to Appomattox Sta- 
tion, capturing many prisoners, four trains containing supplies 
for the rebel army, and twenty-five pieces of artillery, and 
driving Lee's advanced guard back towards Appomattox 
Court House. On the morning of the 9th he planted his 
forces squarely across Lee's road, and having already seized 
the supplies intended for his staggering and disheartened 
enemy, prepared to hurl his irresistible horsemen once more 
headlong into battle. 

But Lee, failing to realize the desperate strait into which 
he had fallen, ordered Gordon to attack the yet dismounted 
horsemen and drive them from the road. The advance was 
made with the vigor of despair, and resulted in driving the 
cavalry; but it was too late, for Ord and Griffin, with 20,000 
infantry, stood at their backs. Perceiving that to struggle 
longer could result in nothing but the slaughter of his half- 
famished soldiers, Lee decided to surrender. His army was 
reduced to less than 10,000 effective men ; his artillery had 
been captured, his trains destroyed, his ammunition ex- 
hausted, his depots and supplies were burnt, and worse than 
all, 80,000 victorious troops were bearing down upon him, 
under the supreme command of his relentless adversary. 
Withal, that adversary had offered him, two days before, the 
most generous terms of capitulation, and under the present 
circumstances there was no alternative left him but to accept 
such as could now be obtained. Mounting his horse, he rode 
to the rear for the purpose of conferring with General Grant, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 373 

leaving Longstreet in charge of the little band now confront- 
ing Sheridan. During the hurry of the pursuit, Grant 
became convinced that the condition of the rebel was entirely- 
hopeless, and accordingly, on arriving at Farmville, on the 
7th of April, he had written, and sent by flag of truce to 
General Lee, the following humane and characteristic note : 

" General, — The result of the last week must convince you of the 
hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern 
Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty 
to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, 
by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate 
States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia." 

To which Lee replied at once, but with his accustomed 
caution : 

" General, — I have received your note of this date. Though not 
entertaining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further re- 
sistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate 
your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before 
considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition 
of its surrender." 

This letter did not reach the Lieutenant-General till the 
morning of the 8th, just as he was setting out from Farmville 
to hurry forward the pursuit, but he answered immediately : 

" General, — Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same 
date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the 
Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. In reply I would say, that 
Peace being my great desire, there is but one condition I would insist 
upon, namely : that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqual- 
ified for taking up arms again against the Government of the United 
States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or will designate 
officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at 
any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the 
terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will 
be received." 

This communication reached Lee late in the afternoon, 
while hurrying his army forward in its weary flight to save 
it from entire destruction ; and although sorely pressed, he 



374 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

replied the same evening in the following disingenuous and 
diplomatic terms ; 

" General, — I received, at a late hour, your note of to-day. In 
mine of yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the 
Army of Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. 
To be frank, I do not think the emergency arisen to call for the surren- 
der of this army ; but as the restoration of peace should be the sole 
object of all, I desired to know whether your proposal would lead to 
that end. 1 cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the 
Army of Northern Virginia, but as far as your proposals may affect the 
Confederate States forces under my command and tend to the restora- 
tion of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at ten o'clock a. m. to- 
morrow, on the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines 
of the two armies." 

General Grant was not for a moment deceived by the con- 
fident tone of this letter nor misled by the anxiety of its 
writer to treat for peace. The letter reached him at mid- 
night, but knowing that he could lose nothing by letting the 
negotiation take its natural course, he did not reply till the 
next morning after the army had been put in motion towards 
Appomattox Court House. His answer, dated April 9th, was 
as follows: 

" General, — Your note of yesterday is received. I have no author- 
ity to treat on the subject of peace ; the meeting proposed for ten 
o'clock A. M. to-day could lead to no good. I will state, however. Gen- 
eral, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole 
North entertains the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can 
be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms 
they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human 
lives and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Seri- 
ously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of 
another life, I subscribe myself," &c. 

Lee had by this time discovered that an emergency * had 

* There can be no doubt in history that General Lee, in taking his army 
away from Richmond and Petersburg, had decided, in his own mind, upon 
the hopelessness of the war, and had predetermined its surrender. The most 
striking proof of this is, that in his retreat there was no order published 
against straggling — a thing unprecedented in all dehberate and strategic re- 
treats — and nothing whatever done to maintain discipline. The men were 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 3T5 

arisen to call for the surrender of his armj, and receiving 
General Grant's letter at the outposts, he replied at once : 

*' General, — I received your note of this morning, on the picket- 
line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what 
terms were embraced in your proposal of yesterday with reference to 
the surrender of this army. I now ask an interview in accordance with 
the ofier contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose." 

General Grant was in the meantime pushing on towards 
the head of the army, when this clear and unequivocal de- 
mand for a meeting, overtook him ; staying his horse for a 
few minutes, he wrote as follows : 

" General, — Your note of this date is but this moment (11.50) re- 
ceived. In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and 
Lynchburg to the Farmville and Lynchburg Road, I am, at this writing, 
about four miles west ■of Walter's Church, and will push forward to the 
front for the purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me on this road, 
where you wish the interview to take place, will meet me." 

Hurrying on to Appomattox Court House he stayed the 
threatened onset of Sheridan and Ord, and sent word to 
Meade to restrain his army during the negotiations. The 

not animated by the style of general orders usual on such occasions. They 
straggled and deserted almost at will. An idea ran through the Virginia 
troops that with the abandonment of Richmond the war was hopeless, and 
that they would be justified in refusing to fight outside the limits of their 
State. Nothing was done to check the well-known circulation of this notion 
in the army. The Virginia troops dropped off to their homes at almost every 
mile of the route. We have seen that Pickett was left with only a handful of 
men. Some of the brigade commanders had not hesitated to advise their sol- 
diers that the war was virtually over, and that they had better go home and 
" make crops." 

But there are other proofs, besides the omission of the measures against 
straggling usual on retreats, that General Lee had foreseen a su-rrender of his 
army. He carried off from Petersburg and Richmond all the transportation 
of his army, suflacient, perhaps, for one hundred thousand men, certainly 
largely in excess of the actual needs of the retreat. The excessive number 
of Virginia troops who were permitted to drOp out of the ranks and return to 
their homes, shows very well that there was no firm purpose to carry the war 
out of the limits of the State. Prisoners taken on the retreat invariably 
reported that the army was soon to be halted for a surrender ; and General 
Custis Lee, when captured, is alleged to have made the same revelation of his 
father's designs. — " Southern Histoii/ of the War," pp. 507-8. 



376 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

meeting between General Grant and General Lee took place 
at the house of Mr. Wilmer McLean, in the village of Appo- 
mattox Court House. The Chieftains were attended by the 
members of their staflfe, and proceeded, after polite greet- 
ings, at once to the business which had brought them together, 
and by half-past three o'clock the agreement for surrender was 
perfected. The deportment of the Lieutenant-General is de- 
scribed by Pollard, the rebel historian, in the following words : 

" It is to be fairly and cheerfully admitted that General Grant's con- 
duct, with respect to all the circumstances of the surrender, exhibited 
some extraordinary traits of magnanimity. He had not dramatized 
the affair. He had conducted it with as much simplicity as possible, 
avoided ' sensation,' and spared everything that might wound the feel- 
ings or imply the humiliation of a vanquished foe. Such conduct was 
noble. Before the surrender. General Grant had expressed to his own 
ofi&cers his intention not to require the same formalities as are required 
in a surrender between the forces of two foreign nations or belligerent 
powers, and to exact no conditions for the mere purpose of humiliation." 

The conduct of the entire army was governed by the same 
high sense of honor and propriety. No rebel soldier or offi- 
cer was harshly addressed or unkindly treated, but every- 
thing was done that generous men could do to alleviate their 
sufferings and supply their wants. When the surrender was 
definitely announced the different divisions and brigades 
throughout the victorious host rent the air with deafening 
cheers ; men and officers went wild with delight. The war 
was now ended ! The citizen soldiery, whose constancy and 
courage had so long maintained the integrity of the Republic 
were finally blessed with a triumph such as few armies have 
ever gained. That night they dreamed of home and friends, 
or around their camp fires, with hearts too full for sleep, talked 
of the bright future which now seemed assured for their 
country and themselves. 

The terms of surrender as fixed by General Grant are set 
forth in the following letter, dated April 9th, and addressed 
to General Lee : 

" General, — In accordance with the substance of my letter to you 
of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 877 

Northern Virginia on the following terms, to wit : Rolls of all officers 
and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer 
to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer or offi- 
cers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles 
not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until 
properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign 
a like parole for the men of their commands. The arms, artillery, and 
public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the offi- 
cers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the 
side-arms of the officers, nor the private horses, or baggage. This 
done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not 
to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe 
their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside." 

General Lee at once accepted these terms, and General 
Grant appointed Generals Griffin and MacKenzie to remain 
with their commands at Appomattox Court House for the 
purpose of carrying them into effect, while the rest of the 
army returned to BurkesvUle Junction, where they could 
receive supplies by rail. 

General Grant did not yet regard his labor as finished, 
though Lee's surrender was the signal for the surrender of all 
the other armed forces of the rebellion, and as soon as the 
news could be spread, put an end to hostilities throughout 
the land. 

Johnston surrendered to Sherman on the 25th of April, on 
the same terms that had been accorded to Lee ; Cobb sur- 
rendered to Wilson at Macon on the 20th of April ; Dick 
Taylor, at Citron ville, Ala., surrendered to Canby on the 4th 
of May ; but Kirby Smith, commanding the trans-Missis- 
sippi Department, seemed defiant till he heard of Davis' 
capture, and the movement of a heavy army to his Depart- 
ment under Sheridan, when he left his army to disband. itself ; 
Buckner, with the small force which retained its organization, 
surrendered on the 26th of May. 

The movement of Sheridan with a large and well-appointed 
army to the Mexican frontier, had a deeper significance, how- 
ever, than could be attached to any movement against the 
remnant of rebel power which might show itself in Texas. 
General Grant had long looked upon the French invasion of 



378 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Mexico, and the forced establishment of the Mexican Empire 
under Maximilian, ♦ as acts of open hostility against the 
United States, by the avowed allies of the slave-holders' 
rebellion, and therefore regarded the French army, then 
occupying that unfortunate country, as the next objective 
against which the Government should dii'ect its forces. It 
is due to the Lieutenant-General to add that the avowal of 
this well known opinion on his part, did more to bring about 
a peaceable solution of the Mexican question than all the 
arguments of the Secretary of State, supported by the entire 
strength of the Mexican people. 

As soon as the insurgent forces had been paroled and sent 
to their houses. Grant collected the different armies at con- 
venient places, and, under the instructions of the Secretary 
of AVar, disbanded them with all possible despatch — and that 
mighty host of citizen soldiery, which, under his leadership, 
had been taught every secret of the military art, now re- 
turned to the pursuits of peace, becoming at once the most 
quiet, orderly, law-abiding, and respectable members of so- 
ciety. When European nations can thus disband their huge 
standing armies, and depend for the safety of Government 
upon the virtue, patriotism, and intelligence, of their people, 
a happy epoch will have dawned upon the world. 

As a more substantial reward for his extraordinary servi- 
ces than collegiate degrees and popular ovations, which were 
bestowed upon him in profusion, Grant was promoted to the 
full grade of General on the 25th of July, 18GG. 



CHAPTEK XXXVI. 

GRANT SECRETARY OF WAR AD INTERIM — HIS PREVIOUS COURSE 
ON RECONSTRUCTION — THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT — THE 
RECONSTRUCTION ACTS — SELECTION OF THE FIVE COMMANDERS — 
HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO THEM — HIS RELUCTANCE TO TAKE THE WAR 
OFFICE — HIS MOTIVES FOR ACCEPTING IT — JOHNSON'S DISSIMULA- 
TION — CONDITION OF THE SOUTH — REMOVAL OF SHERIDAN — 
grant's protest — REMOVAL OF SICKLES AND POPE— DIFFICULTIES 
OF grant's POSITION — HIS GREAT LABORS AND CONCILIATORY 
SPIRIT — SUCCESS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION — RETRENCHMENT AND 
REFORM IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT — GREAT REDUCTION OF EX- 
PENDITURES — COMMENDATION OF THE PRESIDENT — THE ANNUAL 
REPORT OF GRANT AS SECRETARY. 

Ox the 12th of August, 1867, General Grant was appointed 
Secretary of War ad interim. This being the first civil office 
he ever held, it is interesting to inquire into the manner in 
which he discharged its duties. 

Throughout the fifteen months that had intervened since 
the surrender of the Confederate forces, he had been desirous 
of seeing a reconstruction of the Union on a just, liberal and 
safe basis. He had not been required to devise or propose a 
plan of reconstruction, that task being confided to the Legis- 
lative and Executive Departments. As head of the army, 
he had stood ready to co-operate in carrying out any plan 
which they might agree upon. 

When Congress presented to the States, for their ratifica- 
tion, the Constitutional Amendment, commonly known as 
Article XIV., he saw that it opened a way through which 
the South might, at an early day, emerge from its anomalous 
and irksome position, and resume the exclusive control of its 



880 LIFE OF ULYSSE3 S. GRANT. 

affairs. Acting upon the promptings of unwise counsels, the 
Southern States repudiated this magnanimous plan by reject- 
ting the amendment ; and thereupon, Congress, after mature 
consideration, passed the reconstruction acts of March, 1867. 

These acts imposed upon Grant as Commander-in-Chief 
many weighty and delicate duties. The five military com- 
manders of the several districts provided for by these acts, 
were selected by the joint advice of the President, the Sec- 
retary of War and the General-in-Chief. The selection was 
deemed eminently wise, and the assignment to the respective 
districts highly judicious. In his original instructions to the 
district commanders, and in his subsequent correspondence 
with them. Grant, while impressing them with the idea that 
the letter and spirit of the law w^ere to be the guide of their 
conduct, counseled moderation and forbearance towards the 
people of the South. From the time of the surrender down 
throuo-h the entire period under consideration, his official in- 
tercourse with the Southern population of all classes was that 
of an urbane magistrate rather than a soldier clothed with 
supreme powers ; and no man below the Potomac and the 
Ohio can justly say that he has ever felt the undue pressure 
of his mailed hand. 

General Grant had not sought the office of Secretary of 
War ad interim, and he took the post with great reluctance. 
He did not recognize the necessity of a change in the De- 
partment at that juncture, having, to use his own language 
in his letter to Mr. Stanton, full confidence in " the zeal, 
patriotism, firmness and abiUty " wherewith that gentleman 
had discharged its duties. He had privately remonstrated 
with the President against the change, and he finally lodged 
with him an earnest written protest against it. 

He feared that the suspension of Mr. Stanton, at that 
critical stage in the reconstruction measures, would operate 
injuriously in the South, encouraging opposition to a plan of 
restoration, which, in its essential features, he deemed inevi- 
table, inspiring hopes that it could be broken down, inflaming 
the smouldering embers of rebellion, and disheartening those 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 381 

Southern citizens who were laboring in good faith to carry it 
into effect. He regarded the suspension as inopportune so 
soon after the adjournment of the Senate, when no new rea- 
sons to justify it had since arisen. " It is," said Grant in his 
protest, " but a short time since the Senate was in session, 
and why not then have asked for his removal if it was 
desired ? " He deprecated it because it would widen the 
existing breach between the President and Congress, at a 
period when it was especially important that all branches of 
the Government should harmoniously co-operate in the deli- 
cate work of restoring the Union. 

General Grant was averse to taking the position himself 
because it would throw upon him the burdens of two im- 
portant offices, when he was already heavily laden with the 
cares of one of them ; and he felt that every thing he could 
do in aid of the work of reconstruction, he could as well 
perform in his sole capacity of General-in-Chief. But the 
President thrust the office upon him, and Grant has since 
avowed, that inasmuch as the suspension of Stanton was a 
foregone conclusion, he took the place rather than that it 
should fall into the hands of some supple or unpatriotic 
person. If Grant's motives in accepting it did not comport 
with the President's intentions in conferring it, this is not 
discreditable to Grant, however it may affect the President. 
If, as the sequel proves, Mr. Johnson had sinister ends in 
view in these proceedings, and hoped ultimately to mould 
Grant to his purposes, or in some way use him in attaining 
those ends, his failure only reflects the more honor upon 
Grant, while it leaves Johnson in the unenviable predica- 
ment of a baffled seducer, who had the will but lacked the 
honor to accomplish his evil designs. 

Grant held the post of War Secretary five months, per- 
forming at the same time the duties of General-in-Chief. He 
took the office at a period of great embarrassment. The diffi- 
culties that beset his administration from the opening to the 
close, were constant and harassing. Sharp collisions be- 
tween the President and Congress, which had been increasing 



382 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

in asperity fur more than a twelve-month, had kindled a spirit 
of inflamed hostility to the Federal Government in the five 
military districts, which, in many localities, had risen almost 
to the height of insurrection, in some had broken out in 
actual violence, while in New Orleans there had been a pro- 
fuse shedding of blood. Hostility on the part of the Presi- 
dent towards three of the district commanders, serious when 
Grant took the office, increased in intensity till Johnson 
finally dismissed them from their posts. 

Five days after Grant entered the Department, General 
Sheridan, w^ho had managed his turbulent district with mar- 
velous skill, was, against Grant's protest, removed from 
command, throwing the district into confusion, and heaping 
unexpected troubles upon the shoulders of the General-in- 
Chief. As this protest exhibits a warmth of sentiment not 
usually attributable to its author, we for that reason, as well 
as because of the important character of the document, copy 
its main paragraphs. It is addressed to the President, and 
bears date August 1, 1867. After objecting to the suspen- 
sion of Mr. Stanton, General Grant goes on to say : 

" On the subject of the removal of the very able commander of the 
fifth military district, let me ask you to consider the effect it would 
have upon the public. He is universally and deservedly beloved by 
the people who sustained this Government through its trials, and 
feareji by those who would still be enemies of the Government. It 
fell to the lot of but few men to do as much against an armed enemy 
as General Sheridan did during the rebellion, and it is within the scope 
of the ability of but few in this or other country to do what he has. 
BLis civil administration has given equal satisfaction. He has had dif- 
ficulties to contend with which no other district commander has en- 
countered. Almost if not quite from the day he was appointed district 
commander to the present time, the press has given out that he was to 
be removed; that the administration was dissatisfied with him, etc. 
This has emboldened the opponents to the laws of Congress within his 
command to oppose him in every way in their power, and has rendered 
necessary measures which otherwise might never have been necessary. 
In conclusion, allow me to say, as a friend desiring peace and quiet, the 
welfare of the whole country, North and South, that it is in my opinion 
more than the loyal people of this country (I mean those who supported 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 383 

the Government during the great rebellion) will quietly sumbit to, to 
see the very man of all others whom they have expressed confidence in 
removed." 

Eegardless of these protestations, Johnson issued the order 
for the removal of Sheridan on the 17th of August. On 
the same day, before the order was past recall, Grant, in his 
double capacity of General and Secretary, addressed an elo- 
quent letter to the President, hoping to stay his hand, assuring 
him that there were "military reasons, pecuniary reasons, 
and above all, patriotic reasons, why this should not be insisted 
upon ; '' and reminding him, that " General Sheridan had 
performed his civil duties faithfully and intelligently ; " and 
warning him that " his removal will only be regarded as an 
effort to defeat the laws of Congress. It will be interpreted 
by the unreconstructed element in the* South, those who did 
all they could to break up this Government by arms, and now 
wish to be the only element consulted as to the method of 
restoring order, as a triumph. It will embolden them to 
renewed opposition to the will of the loyal masses, believing 
that they have the Executive with them." But all was in 
vain. The hero of Winchester was sacrificed. Ten days 
afterwards, General Sickles, Avho had so wisely conducted 
affairs in the Second District, composed of the Carolinas, as 
to win the confidence of the great majority of all classes of 
their population, was also removed against the earnest wishes 
of Grant, thus increasing his anxieties and cares, and causing 
unusual disquietude in that important district. Ultimately 
General Pope, who had shown rare judgment in managing 
the great department of which Georgia was a leading mem- 
ber, was removed, disarranging his well matured plans for 
hastening forward reconstruction in that State and in Ala- 
bama. 

For the removal of these three distinguished commanders, 
scarcely a specious pretext was offered by the President. 
Certainly no solid reason was ever given for dealing such 
wanton blows over the head of Grant at his trustworthy 
subordinates. Under the circumstances in which he was 



384 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

then placed, the South trembling on the verge of anarchy, 
it was hardly less embarrassing to deprive him of the saga- 
cious judgment and ripe experience of these three officers than 
it would have been to have taken Sherman and McPherson 
from him at Vicksburg, and Meade, Sedgwick and Hancock 
at the Wilderness, and Sheridan at Five Forks. But he 
bore these more than insults with his proverbial equanimity, 
and zealously co-operated with the successors of his tried 
Generals in prosecuting the work of restoring the Union. 

When General Grant entered the War Office, the recon- 
struction acts as they had been modified at the session of 
Congress in July, were just going into active operation in all 
the districts. The registration of votes, the calling of State 
conventions to frame constitutions and other preliminary 
steps towards restoring the South to its former relation to 
the Union, were being initiated. This daily demanded from 
him as Secretary of War and General-in-Chief, expositions 
and applications of unprecedented and not always lucid 
statutes, necessitating the solution of complicated problems 
which involved conflicts of jurisdiction between the military 
and the magistracy, collisions between antagonistic and rival 
classes of the people, the removal from office of governors, 
judges, and custodians of public money, and the appoint- 
ment of incumbents to supply the vacancies, and, indeed, all 
conceivable questions of right and of policy that could arise 
in ten inchoate States, smarting under humiliation, whelmed 
in poverty, two-thirds of whose populace were inflamed with 
passion and prone to disorder, while the other third, though 
peacefully disposed, was steeped in ignorance and could exert 
but little influence upon public affairs. To evoke order, con- 
tentment and prosperity out of this civil, social and financial 
chaos, and to construct a solid political edifice out of the 
debris of the shattered Confederacy was the task committed 
to Grant and his subordinate commanders. 

The execution of this task would have been to the last 
degree difficult, even if Grant had been sustained by the 
harmonious co-operation of the great branches of the Gov- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 385 

ernment, and encouraged by the united loyal sentiment of the 
country. But instead of this, Congress and the President 
were at open war, and each was jealously watching him. A 
large part of the Republican press was sharply criticising him 
for having accepted the War Department, while the Demo- 
cratic journals were either insidiously flattering him In the 
hope of drawing him Into the quarrel between the Executive 
and Congress, or coldly waiting to see whether he would prove 
to be a " radical " or a " copperhead," and not seeming to 
care which he might turn out to be. Mr. Johnson, too, 
aided by wily members of his Cabinet, was on the alert to 
entangle him in the toils so that he might, through hira, 
carry out the sinister purposes which had inspired the sus- 
pension of Stanton and his appointment. 

Thus sorely tried, it would have been natural to expect 
that his administration would, at the least, have been marred 
by numerous and serious blunders ; nor would It have been 
surprising if he had made utter shipwreck of his department 
and of his own fame. But the dispassionate pen of history 
will record that in the face of these severe provocations, and 
in spite of these harassing difficulties, he bore himself with 
exemplary caution, patience and urbanity, and performed his 
high duties with extraordinary ability, vigor and success. 
Suffice it to say, that during these five eventful months, he 
filled both his offices up to the measure of the expectations of 
his most sanguine friends. 

The correspondence and documents emanating from the 
War Department while under General Grant's charge, many 
of them of great importance and marked ability, would alone 
fill volumes. It was one of the busiest periods of the last 
seven years of his life. In tracing his course while in the 
War Office, we must necessarily refrain from going into de- 
tails, and be content with viewing the subject In its general 
aspects. Nor need we do otherwise ; for his words and deeds 
while officiating in this capacity are familiar to his country- 
men. Turning our attention from the higher duties we 
have been contemplating, and scanning the minor measures 
25 



386 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

that distinguished his administration, we find him Institut- 
ino- searching and salutary reforms in all branches of the 
Department. 

In his annual report as Secretary ad interim^ he says: 
" Retrenchment was the first subject to attract my attention." 
To the solid value of his services in this particular, as well 
as to the useful reforms he introduced during his brief term 
of office, the President, no partial witness, bears ample testi- 
mony. Mr. Johnson, in his message to the Senate, giving 
reasons for the suspension of Mr. Stanton, says, speaking of 
Grant : " Salutary reforms have been introduced by the 
Secretary ad interim^ and great reductions of expenses have 
been affected under his administration of the War Depart- 
ment, to the saving of millions to the Treasury." 

By his direction while Secretary of War ad interim^ the 
duties of the Bureaus of Rebel Archives and of exchange of 
prisoners, were transferred to the Adjutant-General's Office, 
thus dispensing with the services of a great number of officers 
and clerks. He reduced the number of agents and subordi- 
nates in the Freedmen's Bureau and largely curtailed its ex- 
penses ; closed useless hospitals and dispensaries ; discontinued 
a long list of superfluous mustering and disbursing offices, dis- 
charging their numerous incumbents and attendants, and thus 
stopping the needless expenditure of considerable sums. He 
sold surplus animals, ambulances, wagons, etc., to the amount 
of 1-33,535 ; and superfluous and useless stores and war material 
of various kinds, amounting to $268,000 ; and one thousand 
temporary buildings used by quartermasters, for the sum of 
$112,000. He ordered the chief quartermasters through- 
out the country to make every practicable reduction in the 
number of employes on duty under their directlcii. 

The result was, that in a short time the monthly expenses 
of that Department, arising from the hire of civilians, had 
been reduced by $407,065, making an annual saving In this 
item alone of nearly $5,000,000. Besides the class of employes 
just mentioned, the numbers of mechanics, laborers, and 
others, in various branches of the service, were so reduced 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 387 

that the monthly expenditures in this particular were cur- 
tailed full $100,000, making an annual saving of more than 
$1,200,000. He caused many unnecessary commissaries of 
volunteers to be mustered out, reduced the number of pay- 
masters, and greatly curtailed the cost of transport for men 
and munitions of war in the Western States and territories 
where Indian hostilities were then prevailing. He recom- 
mended the sale of four small arsenals and two or three 
armories, they, in his opinion, not being needed for the ser- 
vice. He stopped the manufacture of large guns, then going 
on at great expense, until their efficiency could be more 
thoroughly tested. He warmly seconded all the suggestions 
of the heads of Bureaus which aimed to reduce the expendi- 
tures of their several branches of the service, and secure 
greater efficiency and a more rigid accountability among 
their subordinates and agents. In a word, he instituted or 
recommended economy and retrenchment, the reformation of 
abuses, and measures tending to produce greater vigor, closer 
scrutiny, and a keener sense of responsibility in the Adjutant 
General's office, the Freedmen's Bureau, the Inspector Gene- 
ral's office, the Quartermaster's, Commissary, Pay, Engineer 
and Ordnance Bureaus, and in the Military Academy at 
AVest Point. 

► In his annual report he bestows commendation upon his 
associates and subordinates with the same liberal and gener- 
ous hand that characterized his reports of army operations 
during the continuance of hostilities. Speaking of the com- 
manders in the Southern States, he says : " I am pleased to 
say, that the commanders of the five military districts have 
executed their difficult trusts faithfully, and without bias 
from any judgment of their own as to the merit or demerit of 
the law they were executing." Like everything from his 
pen, this report is plain and concise, wisely selecting and 
appropriately arranging its materials, and exhibiting much 
valuable information in a style at once compact and luminous. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

CONTROVERSY BETWEEN PRESIDENT JOHNSON AND GRANT — TENURE OF 
OFFICE ACT— JOHNSON TREATS IT AS VALID — THE SENATE REFUSES 
TO CONCUR IN HIS SUSPENSION OP STANTON — JOHNSON'S DUPLIC- 
ITY — grant's interviews WITH HIM — HIS ALLEGED PROMISE — 
HIS DENIAL OF IT — QUESTION OF VERACITY BETWEEN THEM — 
JOHNSON'S WITNESSES — THEIR CHARACTER — THEIR TESTIMONY 
— browning's STATEMENT — HE SUSTAINS GRANT — JOHNSON AIMS 
TO CONTROL THE WAR DEPARTMENT — HIS UNLAWFUL PURPOSES — 
GRANT EXPLODES THE PLOT AND AVERTS THE DANGER — HIS CON- 
DUCT AFTER HE LEFT THE WAR DEPARTMENT — THE SUCCESS OF 
RECONSTRUCTION LARGELY DUE TO GRANT — HIS COURSE RESPECT- 
ING THE IMPEACHMENT OF JOHNSON — HIS NOMINATION FOR THE 
PRESIDENCY BY THE TWO CHICAGO CONVENTIONS — HIS POLITICAL 
POSITION. 

After the assembling of Congress, the President, on the 
12th of December, 1867, sent to the Senate a message contain- 
ing his reasons for the suspension of Mr. Stanton. This wa« 
an admission that the suspension was effected under the Tenure 
of Office Act. Otherwise, why submit this message to the 
Senate ? It afterwards transpired that on the 14th of August 
the President addressed an official communication to the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, informing him that he had, by virtue 
of this act, suspended Mr. Stanton and appointed General 
Grant in his place. Mr. Johnson further recognized its bind- 
mg force by making removals and appointments in accordance 
with its provisions ; and his Cabinet acted under it by so 
changing the forms of commissions of officers as to meet its 
requirements. 

In this act, therefore, Johnson stood committed when he 
entered upon his controversy with Grant in January ; and in 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 389 

any inquiry into the merits of that controversy, he cannot be 
allowed to change his ground. In regard to this act, Grant's 
position has always been, that like all other laws imposing 
duties upon him, he must obey it till some competent tribunal 
declares it invalid and releases him from his obligations. 

The Senate, on the 14th of January, after considering the 
reasons of the President for the suspension of Stanton, re- 
fused to concur therein, and thereupon immediately notified 
Johnson, Stanton and Grant of their decision. By the terms 
of the law. Grant's duties as Secretary ad interim then in- 
stantly ceased, and the functions of the office devolved upon 
Stanton ; and any person thereafter attempting to prevent 
his exercise of them incurred the penalties of fine and im- 
prisonment imposed by the law. 

Subsequent events have proved that Johnson, in the sus- 
pension of Stanton, intended to keep him out of the War 
Office permanently, in spite of the law and of the Senate, and 
to obtain the control of the Department for ulterior objects. 
His purpose was fixed. His mode of accomplishing it was 
sinister. He sought his ends by hypocrisy and double-deal- 
ing. Pretending to yield to the requirements of the act, he 
practically disregarded it. Professing to respect the author- 
ity of the Senate, he meant to defy it. 

Though one of the agencies through which he hoped to 
attain his ends was the temporary installment of Grant in 
Stanton's place, he never dreamed, confident and presuming 
as he is, that he could secure his aid in an illegal seizure 
of the Department. He only aimed to keep him there till 
his plans were matured for thrusting some pliant tool into the 
office. So long as Grant remained, one point w^as gained — 
Stanton was out. If, under some plausible pretext, he could 
induce him to stay after the Senate had acted adversely, he 
could gain the next point by carrying on his contest with the 
Senate under the shadow of his popular and powerful name. 

Up to this stage of the proceedings. Grant, wholly ab- 
sorbed in his multifarious duties, had not detected his devious 
designs. Grant probably believed the Senate would regard 



390 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the Tenure Act as valid. Whether they would refuse to con- 
cur in the reasons for Stanton's suspension was not so certain. 
On Thursday, the 9th of January, Grant had an interview 
on this general subject with Johnson. He had not then 
critically examined this act ; for, being constantly engaged 
in studying laws with whose execution he was specially 
charged, he had no leisure to examine those with whose exe- 
cution he had nothing to do. So in this interview he did not 
combat but rather assented to the President's interpretation, 
to the effect that he might legally retain the "War Office, 
even if the Senate should fail to concur in the reasons for 
Stanton's suspension, and thus send him to the courts for 
redress ; but he told the President he would examine the law 
and inform him if he changed his views. 

On Saturday, the 11th of January, having in the mean- 
time carefully read the law, he again met Johnson, and then 
distinctly informed him that, according to its provisions, if 
the Senate refused to concur in the suspension, Stanton's right 
to resume the office was fixed, and his own powers ceased ; 
and in the event of the Senate's so deciding, he should 
retire. What did Johnson do? Grant had fulfilled his 
promise by notifying him of his views and intentions. John- 
son then had the matter in his own hands. If he wished for 
a conspirator in the War Department, who would defy the 
Senate, resist the law, and drive Stanton to the courts, he 
could have removed Grant and installed a servitor in his 
place. But, as is the wont of a man offensively self-confident 
and prone to contention, instead of accepting the circum- 
stances, he undertook to combat Grant's construction of the 
law, even generously offering, in case he was mistaken, to go 
to jail in Grant's stead if he would only set the law at defi- 
ance ! After much argument by the President in favor of 
his interpretation of the act, they separated with some vague 
idea of meeting again on ISIonday. 

Mr. Johnson subsequently asserted, that on this occasion. 
Grant promised that he would either resign the War Office 
or remain and resist the reinstatement of Stanton. This 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 891 

statement Grant explicitly, and under his own hand, denied. 
In his letter to Johnson, of January 28th, he says : " I made 
no such promise." And here the question of veracity be- 
tween them arises. 

On such an issue the unprejudiced public will take, and 
have taken, but ond side. According to the experience of 
hundreds of his fellow-citizens, Johnson is a frequent violator 
of his plighted word. He calls these verbal infelicities " mis- 
understandings." Using plainer language, the people call 
them falsehoods. The probabilities of the case are all in 
favor of Grant and against Johnson. Grant has ever been 
scrupulously obedient to law. He is the soul of honor, and 
never forfeits his word. He had protested earnestly against 
the suspension of Stanton, and had shown extreme reluctance 
to take the War Department. Is it to be credited for a 
moment that he would deliberately violate the Tenure Act, 
incur its penalties, defy the Senate, become the subject of a 
wrangle in the courts, and cover himself with disgrace, solely 
to keep Stanton out of an office which belonged to him, and 
retain possession of a place which he was reluctant to hold ? 

To the point in controversy the President cited witnesses ; 
not however be it noted, as to what was sjiid at the interview 
between him and Grant on Saturday, when, as Johnson had 
asserted, this promise was made ; but, as to certain alleged 
conversations at a Cabinet meeting on the following Tuesday, 
in regard to what had been said by Grant on Saturday — a 
very important distinction in respect to the subject-matter 
inquired into ; while the testimony (it may be remarked in 
passing,) is of a species which courts of Justice and the 
general experience of mankind, have always viewed with 
great distrust and suspicion, so liable are such conversations 
to be misunderstood or misrecollected, or misinterpreted, or 
misrepresented. 

The place where these conversations of Tuesday occurred, 
was in a Cabinet council at the Executive -Mansion. Why 
was Grant invited thither ? He was not a member of the 
Cabinet as the President well knew, for he had informed him 



392 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

that, in consequence of the proceedings of the Senate on 
Monday, he had withdrawn from the War Department. 
Was he invited into the presence of Johnson and his coun- 
sellors and allies, that they might "entangle him in his talk?" 
And these counsellors and allies — we will not call them 
co-conspirators — are the witnesses whom he summoned to 
sustain his version of what was said by Grant at this pre- 
arranged Cabinet council. 

When these witnesses were called to testify, the President's 
case was involved in this dilemma. Without consultation 
with the more moderate members of the Cabinet, Johnson 
had ostentatiously proclaimed to the country, through certain 
journals, not only this alleged promise of Grant, but also his 
version of the conversations in the Cabinet meeting, insisting 
that the members of the Cabinet concurred with him in 
regard to what had taken place in their presence ; and these 
statements were made in language very bitter and offensive 
towards Grant. When Grant, by his denial, raised the issue 
of veracity, Johnson imperiously demanded the support of 
his Cabinet, whom he had already committed to his side of 
the controversy. Their position was embarrassing ; but hes- 
itation was ruin. For his counsellors to have gone back on 
him then, would have provoked his ire and ruptured' his Cab- 
inet ; and the House of Kepresentatives which they had with 
much difficulty kept at bay for many months, would have 
entered the breach with articles of impeachment against the 
President. Therefore, to save their Chief, upon whom their 
official existence depended, and who would have sacrificed 
them on the instant had they faltered, it behoved them to 
sustain him with the best endorsement which their slender 
materials afforded. 

And what does their testimony, given under these circum- 
stances, amount to ? Messrs. Welles, Kandall and McCulloch 
merely echo the President's statements, to which he had pre- 
viously committed himself and them before the country. By 
refraining from all details of the conversations of Tuesday, 
and by merely giving the President " an endorsement in 



LIFE OF UJ.YSSKS S. GRANT. 893 

blank," they consign themselves to that class which the 
courts call " willing witnesses," whose testimony is contempt- 
uously dismissed as not entitled to the weight of a feather. 

Mr. Browning, while evidently anxious to support the 
President, goes into detail ; and he effectually disposes of 
the case on the only material issue involved. General Grant, 
in his letter to the President of January 28th, had denied 
giving a promise to resign if he concluded not to resist the 
reinstatement of Mr. Stanton. Mr. Browning, in reciting 
what Grant said at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, says, 
Grant on that occasion stated, that on examining the Tenure 
Act " he had come to the conclusion that if the Senate should 
refuse to concur in the suspension, Mr. Stanton would thereby 
be reinstated, and that he. Grant, could not continue there- 
after to act as Secretary of War ad interim without subject- 
ing himself to fine and imprisonment, and that he came over 
on Saturday to inform the President of this change in his 
views, and did so inform him,'''' This contradicts the Presi- 
dent's assertions, verifies the statements of Grant, and settles 
the question of veracity in his favor. 

Mr. Seward does not essentially alter this view of the 
matter, though he, as also Mr. Browning, leaves it barely 
possible that Mr. Johnson may have inferred that the discus- 
sion of Saturday was postponed to a contemplated interview 
on Monday. But General Grant did not so understand it. 
He had done his errand ; he had redeemed his pledge ; he 
had notified the President of his change of views, and of his 
fixed intentions, and he retired from the interview, leaving the 
President to pursue his own course. If the latter cherished 
the hope that by a subsequent interview, he could bend his 
inflexible opponent to his wishes, and induce him to change 
his determination or postpone its execution, the unexpectedly 
prompt action of the Senate afforded him no opportunity to 
ply his arts in that direction. He was caught in the snare 
he had spread for another, and he emerged from the contro- 
versy a baffled conspirator. 

Mr. Johnson has contended that his sole object in these 



394 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

strange proceedings, was to test the constitutionality of the 
Tenure of Office Act. This is an afterthought, suggested by 
the exigencies of his impeachment. The inference from all 
the facts then existing and those which have subsequently 
transpired, is irresistible, that his purpose was to get and 
keep possession of the War Department. Assume, however, 
that his object was as he alleges. Has the President, any 
more than the humblest citizen, the right to violate a law in 
order thereby to test its constitutionality ? While this would 
be reprehensible in a private individual, and subject him to 
pains and penalties, such conduct in the President would be 
a far higher crime, tending by its evil example upon inferior 
officials to whelm the country in anarchy. Like all his fel- 
low-citizens, Mr, Johnson was bound to obey the laws, while 
as President he rested under far weightier obligations. He 
was the Chief Executive Magistrate of the Republic, whose 
sworn Constitutional duty it was to " take care that the laws 
be faithfully executed ; " and upon no pretext, and for no 
ulterior objects, and in pursuance of no advice, and under no 
preconceived motives as to their validity, could he refuse 'to 
execute and obey any laws which imposed duties upon him. 

But, concede that his object was to test the constitutional- 
ity of the Tenure Act. Why did he fix his eye exclusively 
and persistently upon the War Department for the purpose 
of trying this issue ? With swarms of minor officers and 
retainers all over the land, ready to do his bidding, a score 
of cases involving this question could have been made up 
and the issue sent to the courts for a decision within a week 
after his wishes were made known. Why then aim at 
the War Office? His subsequent appointment of General 
Thomas to this post, and the events that attended and fol- 
lowed it, affiard an answer to the question. 

JNIr. Johnson, for ulterior purposes, desired to get the 
absolute control of this Department. Through it perhaps 
he imagined he could suspend or supersede Grant as Gen- 
eral-in-Chief, manage the army, defy the Senate, overawe 
the House, prostrate the Congressional plan of reconstruc- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 395 

tion, control the elections in the five military districts, bring 
to the Capital from the Southern States, Senators and Repre- 
sentatives who would, through his aid, either force their way 
into Congress, or by uniting with the minority of the two 
Houses, create a legislative body with which he could co- 
operate ; and thus, by a startling display of power, he would 
make a bold stroke for his own election as President. 

The ungenerous and unfair treatment which General Grant 
received from the President and his coadjutors during this 
controversy, would have aroused, in a mind less patriotic and 
more liable to be swayed by passion and revenge than his, 
intense bitterness towards his foes, which would have awaited 
its opportunity for inflicting upon them summary retribution. 
Such an opportunity soon occurred when the House of Eep- 
resentatives adopted articles of impeachment against Johnson, 
and the Senate entered upon his trial. But throughout these 
proceedings. Grant pursued the same wise course that had 
marked his conduct during the entire period of the colUsion 
between the President and Congress. 

Prudently resolving to leave those upon whom the Constitu- 
tion had devolved the responsibility of initiating and deter- 
mining this complicated case, to discharge their several duties, 
he attended to the performance of the manifold trusts com- 
mitted to his keeping as General-in-Chief. Continuing to 
enforce retrenchment and reform in all branches of the service, 
he devoted himself with untiring energy to the completion of 
the plan of reconstruction. The fruits of his labors in this 
field were early seen in the adoption of Constitutions, and 
the election of State Officers and members of both Houses of 
Congress, in a large majority of the ten Southern States, 
leaving it no longer doubtful that, under the vigorous and 
conciliatory policy and measures of Grant and his faithful 
coadjutors, all the lately rebellious States may be prepared 
to crown the work of restoration by participating, in com- 
mon with the rest of the Union, in the next Presidential 
election. 

On the 19th of May, 1868, a National Convention of sol- 



396 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

diers and sailors met at Chicago, and nominated General 
Grant for the Presidency. It was composed of officers and 
men who had borne a part in the great contest for the preser- 
vation of the Republic. Numerous representatives were in 
attendance from all parts of the country, who greeted the 
name of Grant with intense enthusiasm. Two days after- 
wards, the National Convention, of the Republican party, 
also sitting in Chicago, presented him as a candidate for the 
Presidency. As in the previous Convention, so in this, he 
was nominated by acclamation, and amid the most hearty 
applause. 

The presentation of Grant as the nominee of the soldiers 
and sailors, was natural and appropriate. In installing him 
as their Chief in the pending political campaign, his com- 
panions in arms only renewed and revived a leadership which 
they had followed through the perils of the war, and which 
had conducted them to victory and the country to peace. 
His nomination by the Republican Convention, was only the 
recognition and ratification of an existing fact. He had pre- 
viously been placed before the nation, as a candidate by 
numerous organizations, in various sections of the Union, 
composed of men of all parties. Though doubtless concur- 
ring in sentiment with the leading principles of the Republi- 
can party, he had never been a member of it, nor voted its 
ticket, and, so far as he was a politician at all, he was known 
as a War Democrat. Large numbers of the Soldiers' and 
Sailors' Convention were prominent Democrats, while many 
of the most conspicious members of the Republican Conven- 
tion had been distinguished as leaders in the Democratic 
party. They united with the Republicans in presenting the 
name of Grant to the country, not because they had ceased to 
be Democrats, but because they believed him to be the best 
and safest man with whom to entrust its destiny in the pend- 
ing emergency, and to secure this end they naturally coa- 
lesced with the largest body of his supporters to carry out 
their common object. 

His nomination at Chicago, by these two Conventions, 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 397 

under these circumstances and surrounded and supported by 
such adjuncts, did not require that he should vacate the posi- 
tion of political independence which he had always occupied ; 
and though Kepublicans will support him with fidelity and 
enthusiasm, he will still be regarded as the candidate of 
other organizations as well as theirs, and will be sustained 
by a large and influential body of those who are distinct- 
ively known as War Democrats, while the great mass of the 
people, should he be elevated to Chief Magistracy in Novem- 
ber next, will not entertain the slightest fear that the Union 
and the Constitution will suflfer detriment at his hands. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



POPULAR MISCONCEPTION OF GRANT'S CHARACTER AND ABILITIES — 
HIS PECULIARITIES AND VIRTUES — HIS PHYSICAL AND MENTAL 
ENDURANCE — PERSONAL HABITS AND APPEARANCE — HIS LIBER- 
ALITY — HIS STRICT REGARD FOR TRUTH — GRANT AS A SOLDIER — 
HIS COURAGE AND RESOLUTION — AS AN ORGANIZER— COMPARISON 
BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMIES OF THE WEST AND 
EAST — CONFIDENCE IN THE PATRIOTISM AND INTELLIGENCE OF HIS 
SOLDIERS AND IN THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF THE WAR — HIS 
ESTIMATION OF CHARACTER IN THE SELECTION OF HIS SUBORDI- 
NATES — HIS CHARACTER FOR GENERALSHIP AS JUDGED BY NAPO- 
LEON'S AND MARSHALL MARMONT'S RULES. 

In following General Grant through the incidents of his 
eventful life, it has been impossible to dwell upon his personal 
peculiarities, or to delineate his quahties as a leader in that 
bold relief which may be necessary to illustrate the man as 
he is. Notwithstanding the long array of admirable per- 
formances that have marked his career, there is scarcely any 
character in history in reference to whose real merit so much 
doubt has existed. The reasons for this are somewhat com- 
plex, but are sufficiently indicated by a reference to the 
remarkable reticence of the man and his utter abhorrence of 
the arts of the demagogue in whatever shape. He has stu- 
diously avoided sounding the trumpet of his own fame, either 
in public or in private, and has been so persistently generous 
in awarding praise to others, that the world has really heard 
more of his subordinates than of himself. Then, too, in the 
very outset of his career as a soldier during the war of the 
rebellion, he was denounced before the country as being 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 399 

intemperate as well as incompetent.* His brilliant and 
entirely successful movement against Belmont, was studi- 
ously reported, even by those who knew better, as a disas- 
trous failure ; his splendid campaign of Fort Donelson in 
mid-winter, resulting in the capture of an entire army and in 
the infliction of the first staggering blow upon the rebellion, 
was so marvelous and incomprehensible to the people at 
large, but so persistently misrepresented, that many excellent 
persons came to believe that Grant had retarded that victory 

* The following letter, from Mr. F. L. Olmsted, will serve to show 
the origin of such reports : 

The Genesis of a Rumor. — To the Editor of the Nation: One day in 
the spring of 1863, Mr. Frederick Knapp and myself were guests of 
General Grant, at his head-quarters, on a steamboat lying at Milliken's 
Bend, a few miles above Vicksburg. A curtain had been hung in such 
a way as to give a certain degree of seclusion to the after-part of the 
main cabin, and when we rose from dinner we were asked to sit with 
the General behind the screen, where there was a writing table with a 
pitcher and glasse-s. The General then told us that he had a few hours 
before received unfavorable intelligence from General Sherman's expe- 
dition up the Sunflower. Inviting our enquiries, and replying to all 
we thought it proper to make, with an unexpectedly generous freedom 
and painstaking thoroughness of explanation, he was gradually led into 
a comprehensive review of the existing conditions of his campaign, 
which it was easy to see were of the very gravest character. We were 
impressed as much by the remarkably methodical clearness of the nar- 
ration as by the simple candor and ingenuousness with which it was 
given to us who, the day before, had been strangers to him. He took 
up several hypotheses and suggestions, and analyzed them in such a 
way as to make prominent the uncertainties and uncontrollable ele- 
ments which were involved in them, and I could not but think, so 
musing and quietly reflective was his manner, and yet so exact and 
well-arranged his expressions, that he was simply repeating a process 
of " thinking it out," in order to assure himself that he fully compre- 
hended and gave just weight to all the important elements of some 
grand military problem, the solution of which he was about to under- 
take. 

(The last attempt to attack Vicksburg on the north ended that day, 
and a few hours after our interview the first step was taken looking 
toward the approach from the south ; but of this no hint was given us, 
and we only heard of it the next morning.) 



400 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 

instead of having organized and achieved it by his own in- 
cisive judgment and indomitable courage. His arrest and 
confinement at Fort Henry was looked upon as a legitimate 
punishment for misbehavior. The bloody battle of Shiloh, 
followed by Halleck's disgraceful siege at Corinth, convinced 
the public that Grant must be entirely incompetent ; and it 
was not till after Vicksburg that the real truth began to be 
suspected. First it was McClernand who had " furnished 
him with brains ;" then it was C. F. Smith who had led his 
army to victory ; then it was Halleck ; and finally Sherman 
and McPherson to whom all praise was due. It was not till 

All at once he stopped short, and, with an expression of surprise if 
not of distress, put his cigar away, rose, and moved his chair aside. A 
moment before we could not have imagined that there was a woman 
within many miles of us; but, turning my eyes, I saw one who had just 
parted the screen, comely, well-dressed, and with the air and manner 
of a gentlewoman. She had just arrived by a steamboat from Mem- 
phis, and came to present General Grant with a memorial or petition. 
In a few words she made known her purpose, and offered to give in 
detail certain facts, of which she stated that she was cognizant, bearing 
upon her object. The General stood listening to her in an attitude of 
the most deferential attention, his hand still upon his chair, which wa3 
half in front of him as he had turned to face her, and slightly nodding 
his head as an expression of assent at almost every sentence she 
uttered. When she had completed her statement, he said, speaking 
very low, and with an appearance of reluctance : " I shall be compelled to 
consult my medical director, and to obtain a report from him before I can 
meet your wishes. If agreeable to you, I will ask him to call upon you 
to-morrow ; shall I say at eleven o'clock ?" The lady bowed and with- 
drew; the General took a long breath, resumed his cigar and his seat, 
said that he was inclined to think her proposition a reasonable and 
humane one, and then went on with the interrupted review. 

A week or two after this, having gone up the river, ^Mr. Knapp met 
this lady at a hotel, when, in the course of a conversation, she referred 
with much sadness to the deplorable habits of General Grant, and the 
hopelessness of success while our army was commanded by a man so 
unfit to be charged with any grave responsibility. Mr. Knapp replied 
that he had the '^es.t reason for stating that the reports to which she 
referred were without foundation, and proceeded to give her certain 
exact information of which he happened to be possessed, which, as far a3 
possible, refuted them. " Unfortunately," said the lady, " I have cer- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRAKT. 401 

Vicksburg was followed by Chattanooga that the world came 
to look upon Grant as jDOSsessing any merits of his own. 
It is a safe rule to judge men by the results of a life-time, 
but an unsafe one, particularly in reference to military men, 
to judge from past reputation or isolated actions. In this 
day of skepticism there are but few people who believe en- 
tirely in ability, honor, vigor and manly virtue as the sure 
means of making life successful. And fewer still who are 
able to separate from their estimate of successful characters 
the idea that chance or fate may not have had as much to 
do with achievements of high distinction as real worth and 
ability. A very large number of intelligent persons will 

tain knowledge that they are but too true." She then described her 
recent interview with General Grant, and it appeared that, from her 
point of view, the General was engaged in a carouse with one or two 
boon companions when she came unexpectedly upon him ; that he rose 
to his feet with difficulty, could not stand without staggering, and was 
obliged to support himself with a chair ; that he was evidently con- 
scious that he was in an unfit condition to attend to business, and 
wanted to put her off till the next day ; that his voice was thick, he 
spoke incoherently, and she was so much shocked that she was obliged 
to withdraw almost immediately. The next day, being ashamed to see 
her himself, he sent his doctor to find out what she wanted. 

]\Ir. Knapp then told her that, having been one of the boon com- 
panions whom she had observed with the General on that occasion, 
and that having dined with him and been face to face with him for fully 
three hours, he not only knew that he was under the influence of no 
drink stronger than the unqualified mud of the Mississippi, but he 
could assure her that he had never seen a man who appeared to him 
more thoroughly sober and clear-headed than General Grant at the 
moment of her entrance. 

Notwithstanding his a^^surances, the lady repeated that she could not 
doubt the evidence of her own senses, and I suppose that to this day 
Mr. Knapp and myself rank, equally with General Grant, in her mind 
as confirmed drunkards. 

This experience is by no means a unique one, and the zealous devo- 
tion with which I have often heard both men and women undermining 
the character of others for temperance on equally slight grounds, has 
often led me to question if there are not vices in our society more 
destructive to sound judgment and honest courses than that of habitual 
overdrinking. Yours respectfully, Fred. Law Olmsted. 

26 



402 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

doubtless be found to claim that no man is or can be exclu- 
sively the architect of his own fortunes, and that without the 
favoring circumstances of life, in the shape of that mysterious 
and indefinable agency compounded of time, place and oppor- 
tunity, no amount of talents or energy or good management 
will secure true renown. 

It is not our intention to discuss the doctrine of chances, 
nor to say which of the foregoing propositions affords the 
best rule by which to measure the deserts of public charac- 
ters. There is doubtless some middle ground which is nearer 
the truth in most instances, but in war, if in no other human 
pursuit, success must be made the sole criterion of merit. 
To assume a different principle or to base opinions upon the 
idea that we may have formed of the mental parts or culture 
of a General, is to enter upon fallacious and uncertain 
ground. 

" If we sometimes deceive ourselves," (says Marshall Mar- 
mont, in the " Spirit of Military Institutions,") " in judging 
by facts, we should deceive ourselves much more in directing 
ourselves solely by personal knowledge of individuals. For- 
tune may once or twice overwhelm with her favors, a man 
who is not worthy of them ; she may betray the finest com- 
binations of genius, and humble a noble character ; but when 
the struggle is prolonged, when events are multiplied, the 
man of true talents infallibly conquers her favors ; and if con- 
tinual reverses occur, we may boldly conclude, that in spite 
of a superior mind and qualities, which have dazzled us, a 
lack of harmony and adaptation in these faculties, destroys 
their power." Before making an application of these princi- 
ples to Grant's character as a General, let us consider him as 
a man. 

His special peculiarities as a boy, his modesty, honor, 
and steady self-confidence, have been set forth at con- 
siderable length, and some estimate has been given of his 
characteristics as a soldier, at various epochs of his life ; but 
no full and ample description of the man and his habits has 
yet been ventured upon. 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 403 

He is somewhat under the medium size, though his body 
is closely and powerfully built. His feet and hands are small 
and neatly shaped ; his dress is plain, and exceedingly unos- 
tentatious ; his eyes are large, deep, leonine and very strong, 
equally capable of blazing with a resolution that nothing can 
withstand, and of shining with the steady light of benevolence 
and amiabihty. His fibre is like that of steel wire, elastic, 
close-grained, and enduring; his temperament is admirably 
compounded of the sanguine, nervous and lymphatic, but the 
last is in such proportion as to tone down and hold in equilib- 
rium the other two, perfecting both mental and physical or- 
ganization. His capacity for labor surpasses comprehension ; 
neither mental nor physical exertion seems to produce the 
least wear and tear in his case. He rides at a dashing speed 
hour after hour and day after day with the same ease with 
which he plans a battle or issues the instructions for a cam- 
paign. There is no noise or clash or clangor in the man ; his 
voice is as quiet and orderly as a woman's, and his language 
judiciously and tastefully chosen. He was never heard to give 
utterance to a rude word or a vulgar jest ; no oath or fierce 
fiery imprecation has ever escaped his lips. No thundering 
order, no unfeeling or undignified speech, and no thought- 
less or ill-natured criticism ever fell from him. When 
angry, which is rarely the case, or at least, he rarely shows 
his anger, he speaks with well-ordered but subdued vehe- 
mence, displaying his passion by compressed lips and an 
earnest flash of the eye. But it must be said of him, that 
of all men he is the slowest to anger. He has been heard to 
say that even under the severest insult he never became in- 
dignant till a week after the offense has been given, and then 
only at himself for not having sooner discovered that he had 
been insulted or misused. This arises rather from an un- 
conscious self-abnegation than from any incapacity for choler. 
It is precisely this quality which has made him so successful 
in the personal questions which have arisen between him and 
his subordinates. They have usually mistaken his slowness 
for dullness or a lack of spirit, and have discovered their 



404 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

mistake only after becoming rash and committing a fatal 
error. Grant is as unsuspicious and pure-hearted as a child, 
and as free from harmful intention ; but he is stirred to the 
very depths of his nature by an act of inhumanity or brutal- 
ity of any sort ; while meanness or ingratitude or uncharita- 
bleness excites him to the display of the liveliest indignation. 
He is not slow in the exhibition of contempt or disgust for 
whatever is unmanly or unbecoming. 

In issuing orders to his subordinates or in asking a service 
at the hands of a staff-officer, he is always scrupulously polite 
and respectful in manner ; and orders or requests rather as 
he would ask a friend to oblige him personally, than as a 
military commander whose word is law. His consideration 
for those about him is admirably shown by the following 
incident : On the night after the battle of Mission Ridge, 
while returning from the front to his head-quarters at Chat- 
tanooga, he desired to know what had become of Sheridan's 
division, which had been reported at noon as engaged in 
building a bridge across the Chickamauga at Mission Mills, 
and although it was then after midnight, he requested one of 
his staff to obtain the desired information. The officer, after 
a long and tiresome ride, reported at head-quarters just at 
sunrise, and found the General not yet asleep. It seems that 
in returning to Chattanooga at about one o'clock, he found 
a full explanation of the day's operations, and instead of 
going to sleep he spent the rest of the night in thinking of 
the long and tedious ride he had required from his officer, all 
for no purpose, as he expressed it. Such solicitude for the 
comfort of others, it is needless to say, was rare even among 
the most humane of our Generals. Many of them would not 
have hesitated to save themselves even the slightest trouble 
at the expense of others ; and not a few would have given 
themselves scarcely a moment's thought had an aid-dc-camp 
been killed, much less if he had only gone on a long and 
difficult ride upon a wintry night. 

Grant's personal habits and tastes are exceedingly simple ; 
he despises the pomp and show of empty parade, and in his 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 405 

severe simplicity and manly pride he scorns all adventitious 
aids to popularity. He lives plainly himself and cannot tol- 
erate ostentation or extravagance in those about him. His 
mess was never luxuriously, though always bountifully, fur- 
nished with army rations, and such supplies as could be 
transported readily and easily in the limited number of 
wagons that he permitted to follow his head-quarters. His 
appetites are all under perfect control. He Is very abstemi- 
ous, and during his entire Western campaign the officers of 
his staff were forbidden to bring wines or liquors Into camp. 
He has been represented as one of the most taciturn of men, 
and In one respect he is such. He never divulges his 
thoughts till they are matured, and never aspires to speech- 
making; and even In private conversation he falls Into silence 
if he suspects that he Is hkely to be reported. He is the 
most modest of men, and nothing annoys him more than a 
loud parade of personal opinion, or personal vanity ; but with 
his intimate friends, eltlier at home or around the camp-fire, 
he talks upon all subjects, not only fluently and copiously, 
but In the most charming and good-natured manner. His 
life has been too busy to read history or technical works, 
but he has always been a close and careful reader of the 
newspapers. He has a retentive memory, and is deeply 
Interested In all matters which concern the Interests of hu- 
manity, and particularly his own country. Upon all such 
subjects. In fiict, upon all the vital questions of the day, he 
thinks carefully and profoundly, and expresses himself with 
o-reat ease and good sense. His understanding Is of that 
incisive character that soon probes a question to the bottom, 
no matter how much the politicians or newspapers may labor 
to confuse it ; while his judgment Is so dehberate, honest and 
truthful In Its operations that It may be Implicitly relied upon 
to arrive at a fair and unbiased conclusion. His memory is 
stored with personal incidents illustrative of men and man- 
ners In all parts of the country, showing that he has evidently 
been a profound student of human nature throughout hfe ; 
his appreciation of men and character has never been sur- 



406 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

passed. This was well shown in the reorganization of the 
army after he became Lieutenant-General. It is well known 
that he did not fail in a single instance where a change was 
made, in putting the right man in the right place. This was 
due neither to chance nor snap judgment, but to his habit of 
careful observation. lie warms towards a bold outspoken and 
loyal nature ; full of ardor and zeal himself, he naturally 
admires these qualities in others. He has no patience with a 
weak, complaining and selfish disposition, and cannot endure 
double-dealing or indirectness of any sort. Straightforward 
and frank in all things himself, he respects these qualities 
wherever they are found. Indeed the most striking pecul- 
iarity of his nature, both as a man and a General, is a pro- 
found and undeviating truthfulness in all things. Those who 
have known him best will bear a willing testimony to the 
statement that he never told a falsehood, or made a vol- 
untary misrepresentation of fact ; and will believe us that it 
would be almost as impossible for him to do so as for the 
needle to forget its fidelity to the pole. 

He is a true friend and a magnanimous enemy. His liber- 
ality is boundless, and his charity as broad as humanity 
itself. He has neither vanity nor selfish ambition ; no pro- 
motion has ever been sought by him, and none has ever 
turned his head or changed his character in the slightest 
degree. Naturally a strong believer in the goodness of 
Providence, as exerted in the affairs of mankind, he yet 
possesses none of that blind fatalism, which has at times, 
characterized military chieftains. So confident was he in 
the moral strength and rectitude of our cause, and the supe- 
rior intelligence and endurance of the Northern people, that 
he never, even in the darkest hour, despaired of a united and 
prosperous country. In this respect he is a perfect embodi- 
ment of the great American characteristic, faith in the 
manifest destiny of the republic. 

" We rarely find," said Napoleon, " combined in the same 
person all the qualities necessary to constitute a great Gen- 
eral. The most desirable is that a man's judgment should be 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 407 

in equilibrium with his courage ; that raises hira at once 
above the common level. If courage be a General's predom- 
inating quality, he will rashly embark in enterprises above 
his conception ; and on the other hand he will not venture to 
carry his ideas into effect if his character or courage be infe- 
rior to his judgment." By way of illustrating this principle 
Napoleon went on to assert that it was impossible for Murat 
and Ney not to be brave, but added that " no men ever pos- 
sessed less judgment." Speaking of moral courage, he said: 
" I have very rarely met the two-o'clock-in-the-morning cour- 
age ; I mean unprepared courage ; that which is necessary on 
an unexpected occasion. Kleber was endowed with the 
highest talents, but was merely the man of the moment, and 
pursued glory as the only road to enjoyment, while Desaix 
possessed, in a very superior degree, the important equiUb- 
rium just described." After fully considering this subject, 
and discussing the merits of his own subordinates, he did not 
scruple to say that he was himself the only General of his 
time who fully possessed the courage ready for every emer- 
gency. 

While we are forced to admit that this opinion of himself, 
was not unusually partial or singular at that time, it is but 
just to add, that it is now well established in history, that 
both his judgment and courage were, at fault upon more than 
one occasion. Without enlarging here upon the events of 
his remarkable career, it is only necessary to call attention 
to the attempted conquest of Spain and Russia, the war of 
1812-13 in Germany, the campaign of 1811 in France, and 
finally the campaign of Waterloo, in order to establish suf- 
ficiently the fact that the necessary equilibrium did not 
always exist in Napoleon between the conception and execu- 
tion of his plans. 

Marshall Marmont classifies Generals into four catego- 
ries, counting, first "those who have never lost a battle, 
whose courage and judgment were equal to every emer- 
gency," such as Alexander and Caesar in ancient times, 
and Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Conde, Luxembourg, and 



408 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Napoleon until 1812, in modern times. In the second class 
he places " those who, if they have often gained victories, 
have sometimes lost them " in spite of desperate fighting and 
good Generalship. Among these are the Archduke Charles, 
Suwarow and Wellington. The third category contains 
"those Generals who have been habitually unfortunate in 
war, but have never allowed their armies to be destroyed, 
nor been personally discouraged, always offering a mena- 
cing front and impressing the enemy with fear." Such in 
ancient times, were Sertorius and Mithridates, and in 
modern times Wallenstein and William III. of England. 
Finally, the fourth category contains " that numerous class, 
common to every country and every epoch, w4io have lost 
their armies without serious fighting, or without making the 
enemy pay dearly for his victory." In describing the qualities 
of a great leader, Marmont speaks of a union of intelligence 
and courage, but prefers, if either be in excess, that it should 
be courage, for reasons which ai;e obvious. Another writer 
declares that the distinctive characteristic of genius, is the 
apparent ease and simplicity with w'hlch it accomplishes the 
most difficult things. Now let Grant be tried by these rules, 
and what rank must be assigned to him in history ? Where 
must he be placed ? Clearly in the highest category of great 
soldiers ; but in order that this may be still further beyond 
the pale of dispute, let us consider the grounds for this con- 
clusion somewhat more in detail. 

Grant having been educated as a soldier, at West Point, 
the first military school of America, if not of the world, and 
having served under both Taylor and Scott, had at the 
outbreak of the rebellion, received all the training, both 
theoretical and practical, that was requisite to a thorough 
understanding of the military art, as applicable to warfare 
in America. In the very outset of his more recent career, 
he showed plainly that he had not been an idle or unobserv- 
ant student of his profession. He was, from conviction, 
always opposed to that spirit of martinetism which Frederick 
the Great succeeded in making the basis of military discipline 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GEANT. 409 

in nearly all modern armies ; and believed In developing the 
individuality of the soldier, as much as possible, trusting to 
his Intelligence and patriotism for a full performance of duty, 
instead of relying exclusively upon the capacity of officers to 
control brute masses. He had the sagacity to perceive that 
the system of Frederick, while it might do well enough for 
feudal Europe, before the days of the revolution, could not 
be made to apply to citizen soldiery, and he therefore wasted 
no time in trying to enforce the strict rules of fixed military 
establishments. He did not make the usual mistake of sup- 
posing that the common soldier was ignorant and thoughtless, 
and therefore to be considered as a mere machine to be pro- 
vided with a musket or sabre, and then to be harassed Into a 
reluctant performance of duty, but was profoundly impressed 
with the idea that the volunteers were intelligent citizens of 
the republic, whose business had been to become acquainted 
with public affairs. Withal, he was not unmindful of the 
necessity of drill and organization, for the purpose of ensur- 
ing coherence and uniformity of effort, though he acted upon 
the reasonable supposition, that volunteers would obtain more 
of the practical knowledge of warfare, in a week's campaign- 
ing, than a year's drilling in camps of instruction. He has 
been often heard to say, that the officer who could not tell 
that his movements were in the way of successful execution, 
by reading the faces of his men, was already defeated ; he 
believes that American soldiers " are as smart as town folks," 
and what they do not know, or cannot find out. Is scarcely 
worth the knowing. Looking at the army In this light, he 
wisely devoted more time to the selection of good officei's, and 
the weeding out of bad ones, than in working from .the men 
upwards. 

He held from the first that the Government in conducting 
the war should have acted upon the hereditary policy of the 
nation, and disbanded the regular army entirely, distributing 
its officers, non-commissioned officers and privates among 
the raw and untrained volunteers, thus, by a wide dissemi- 
nation of the trained and disciplined element, thoroughly 



410 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

impregnating every branch of the volunteer army with ex- 
perienced and acconipHshed soldiers. By this means, one 
or two commissioned officers and ten or twelve non-commis- 
sioned officers and privates of the old army could have been 
put into each new regiment. The rebels having no standing 
army to maintain, pursued exactly this course with their 
officers educated for the militaiy service, and although they 
had very few, comparatively, their army for the first two 
years of the war was under much better general discipline 
than ours. To be sure, the Southern people had been pre- 
paring for this outbreak for several years before it actually 
took place, but the only satisfactory explanation of the effi- 
cacy with which they conducted operations at first is to be 
found in the fact that they wisely used their trained officers 
in the organization and command of new troops, while the 
National Government studiously pursued just the opposite 
policy. So rigidly was this system adhered to that not till 
after Grant became Lieutenant-General did he have the 
assistance of trained military men even upon his staff. 

McClellan has been mii'ch praised for the organization of 
the Army of the Potomac, and while it is not our intention 
to detract from his deserts on that account, it must not be for- 
gotten that in his greatest performance he was aided by those 
who became his successors, or that he had the help of nine- 
tenths of the trained soldiers in the Regular Army at the out- 
break of the war. He absorbed the best of everything, — 
officers, troops, arms, ammunition and supplies of every sort. 
His infantry was commanded by Sumner, Franklin, W. F. 
Smith, Hooker, Kearney, Heintzleman, Casey, McCall, Stone, 
Ord, INIeade, Humphreys, McDowell, Keyes, Fitz John Porter, 
French and Richardson ; his cavalry, by Stoneman, Cooke, 
Buford, Emory, Pleasonton, Bayard and Averill ; his artillery, 
by Barry, Hunt, Ayers, Gibbon, Griffin and a galaxy of 
younger officers. The various departments of the staff were 
presided over by regular officers, many of whom were already 
distinguished for conspicuous services, including among their 
number, Barnard, Duane, Michler, Mcndall and McComb of 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 411 

the Engineers ; Ingalls, of the Quartermaster's Department ; 
Clarke, of the Subsistence Department ; Letterman, in the 
Medical Department ; and Seth Williams and Marcy, in the 
Adjutant-General's Department. In fact, every corps, divis- 
ion and brigade, besides many a regiment and battery, 
was led by an experienced commander. The result is well 
known : the Army of the Potomac, " that splendid army of 
citizen soldiery," had its origin in this organization, and for 
four long years steadfastly struggled under every sort of 
commander till it finally found its hero in the Lieutenant- 
General, and gained a signal triumph. 

But fortunately for the cause of free Government, there 
were other armies in the field whose history is not less glori- 
ous than that of the Army 'of the Potomac. Buell organ- 
ized the Army of the Cumberland, whose distinctive feature 
was rigid discipline and methodical performance of duty ; and 
although its commander was a military favorite and one of 
the prodigies of the earlier days of the war, he was permit- 
ted to have but limited assistance from the regular army. His 
staff officers alone, with a few division and brigade command- 
ers like Thomas, Wood, Stanley, McCook, Hazen, Terrell, 
and Harker, with two batteries of artillery and four new 
regiments of infantry, were drawn from the regular army. 
The case with Grant was incomparably worse. Sherman 
and McPherson were the only graduates of the military 
academy who were permanently identified with the Army 
of the Tennessee, C. F. Smith made the campaign of Fort 
Donelson with it ; Eosecrans that of Corinth and luka ; 
Sheridan commanded a cavalry regiment in it for a while, 
and was then transferred to the Army of the Cumberland. 
Wilson belonged to the staff, and Ord, Sooy Smith, and 
Comstock, and several inferior officers joined it during the 
siege of Vicksburg ; but with the exception of a small 
battalion of the Thirteenth (new) infantry, and a few hun- 
dred of the First infantry during the Vicksburg campaign, 
not a regiment of regular soldiers ever formed any part of 
its columns. It was made up, Generals and all, of raw 



412 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Western volunteers, with no knowledge of warfare except 
that derived from fiimily tradition or based upon their mother 
wit ; and no military training except in the use of the rifle. 
Having served with all these armies and had ample oppor- 
tunities of observing their habitual deportment in camp, on 
the march and in battle, at various epochs of their career, 
we may be permitted to speak unhesitatingly. 

In the routine and detail of duty, and in the minor matters 
of discipline and organization, the Army of the Potomac was 
undoubtedly superior to either of the others. But in the 
subordination of Its Generals, in the promptitude, zeal, and 
energy of Its lower officers ; in the self-reliance, earnestness 
and physical characteristics of its rank and file, in short in 
every moral military quality, the Army of the Tennessee has 
never been excelled. No General ever more successfully 
impressed his own character upon an army than Grant did 
his upon the one which grew up so silently under his care. 
No army was ever more loyal to its Chief or more clearly 
embodied the spirit of the people from which it sprung. It 
is a curious fact, too, not otherwise sufficiently accounted for, 
that it is the only army organized with the war, and con- 
tinuing in existence till the establishment of peace, which, as a 
whole, never suffered a defeat. Its endurance and courage 
were unconquerable, so much so that before the war had 
terminated. It came to be a boast In its ranks that it was 
sure to win any battle that lasted over one day, no matter 
what the odds or who the enemy. Officers and men seemed 
to be endowed with the gift of persistency to a degree 
never surpassed except by their commander. As an organ- 
izer Grant's reputation must continue to increase the more 
his performances in this direction become known. 

The attention of the reader has already been called to his 
recommendation of a united command in the Mississippi 
Valley, and to the tardy action of the Government in carry- 
ing this recommendation into effect. It is hardly necessary 
now to say that this combination was the foundation of all our 
substantial victories, not only in the West, but throughout 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 413 

the entire theatre of war. Fort Donelson was won by celer- 
ity, audacity and heroic resolution. Shiloh, by stubborn 
fighting and unconquerable heroism. Vicksburg, by the 
most brilliant and original strategy, by rapid marching, judi- 
cious combination and self-reliance, which remind one of 
the invasion of Russia by Charles XII., or of the vigor dis- 
played in Bonaparte's campaign of 1796; but it must not be 
forgotten that Charles lost his army at Pultowa, and that 
Bonaparte did not cut loose from his base and plunge head- 
long into the interior of the hostile country ; but by a judicious 
and well-formed plan of operations he broke through the 
enemy's lines at such a point as to retain his communications 
with France constantly uninterrupted, while by rapid combi- 
nations and severe battles he drove these lines before him. But 
Grant, in the Vicksburg campaign, boldly threw himself into 
the midst of hostile forces, leaving an army entirely behind 
him, until he had seized the most important point in the 
theatre of operations, and then turned upon and defeated that 
army, and drove it into the fortifications from which it was 
destined never to emerge except at the will of its conqueror. 
The closing victories of the war were won by a rare combi- 
nation of military agencies. The consolidation of four vast 
territorial departments into one grand military division, 
enabled Grant to concentrate at Chattanooga a splendid 
army, heavily out-numbering the enemy, and it should be 
remembered that Providence favors strong battalions. By 
a series of strategic and grand tactical combinations, these 
superior numbers were so directed upon the field of battle as 
to take the enemy at disadvantage, striking him in flank, and 
actually getting closer to his base of suj^plies than his base 
was to his own head-quarters. 

The Atlanta campaign and the march to the sea; the 
selection of Sheridan and the formation of the middle mili- 
tary division ; the consolidation of the Western cavalry ; the 
establishment of the military division of the West Mississippi, 
under Canby, followed by the campaign of Mobile ; Sher- 
man's grand holiday excursion and picnic party through the 



414 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Carolinas, again severing the Southern territory, isolating 
and scattering its armies, breaking its communications and 
eating out the vitals of the Confederacy ; and, lastly, but not 
least, the magnificent campaign of the Army of the Potomac, 
from the Rapidan to the James, and from Petersburg to Ap- 
pomattox Court House, bear ample testimony not only to the 
grandeur of Grant's conceptions, but to the heroic and 
unshakable resolution w^ith which he carried them into effect. 
There was no defeat in all this, no hesitation, no doubting, 
but the clearest comprehension of the ends to be aimed at, 
the most careful preparation of materials, and the most per- 
fect confidence in the men and means by which they were 
to be attained. No modern General except Bonaparte ever 
wielded such vast and prolonged power ; and not even 
that great conqueror displayed such remarkable sagacity in 
his organizations and selections of subordinates. Massena 
and Soult were driven from Spain ; McDonald was over- 
whelmed at Katzbach ; Marmont was defeated at Mont- 
martre ; and Napoleon himself was driven from Russia, beaten 
at Leipsic, and finally, after a series of unaccountable blun- 
ders, was hurled from his throne, recovering it again only to 
repeat his blunders and meet an ignominious fate. 

But Grant knew that no genius, however remarkable, 
could sufficiently command the national armies in a war of 
such magnitude without the assistance of lieutenants who 
could be trusted " to make their own orders " for the emer- 
gencies that were sure to arise. He therefore gave more 
thought to the proper organization and direction of armies 
upon the vital points of the enemy's territory and lines, and 
to the selection of men competent to command them, than to 
issuing the detailed orders of battle. Neither Sherman, nor 
Sheridan, nor Thomas, nor Canby ever failed him, and had 
circumstances enabled him to devote himself exclusively to 
the command of the Army of the Potomac, he would doubt- 
less have displayed as much skill in the tactics of battle as 
he did in the strategy of campaigns. 

The quick judgment by which he discovered the enemy's 



LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 415 

plan to evacuate Fort Donelson, and the sudden" resolution 
which he based thereupon, to attack at once, are evidences 
of something more than aggressive temper or mere brute 
courage. The tactics of Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga 
Valley and Mission Ridge have never been surpassed. The 
tactics, or more properly, the grand tactics displayed during 
the overland campaign, are worthy of the highest commenda- 
tion, and had the execution of details been as flmltless as the 
conception of the movements, there would have been nothing 
to regret. But it was precisely in the details with which 
Grant studiously avoided interfering that the greatest, and in 
fact the only failures took place. Grant's conduct at Bel- 
mont, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and in the Wil- 
derness, was all that could have been wished, and shows, 
beyond chance of dispute, that he possesses, in the highest 
degree, that " two-o'clock-in-the-morning courage" which 
Napoleon declared to be the rarest thing among Generals ; 
while his conception and execution of the Vicksburg cam- 
paign, are complete proof that his judgment is In exact 
equilibrium with his courage. His unvaried course of suc- 
cess through four years of warfare, shows that he Is en- 
titled to be ranked in the category of Generals who never 
lost a campaign or a battle, and the easy simplicity with 
which he did the most extraordinary things points strongly 
to the possession of a remarkable genius for war. 



CHAPTEK XXXIX. 

GRANT AS A STATESMAN— HIS MILITARY GENIUS CONCEDED— HIS CIVIC 
TALENTS DISPUTED — THE TRUE THEORY — POLITICIANS AND OF- 
FICE-HOLDERS NOT NECESSARILY STATESMEN— GRANT COMPARED 
WITH EMINENT CIVILIANS— A COMPARISON WITH SOLDIER-STATES- 
MEN, LIKE WASHINGTON, KNOX, JACKSON, AND TAYLOR— HIS EDU- 
CATION AND MENTAL TRAITS SUPPLY THE LACK OF EXPERIENCE 
IN CIVIL AFFAIRS — HIS CIVIL SERVICES DURING AND SINCE THE 
WAR — WASHINGTON'S DISCIPLINE IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA — 
grant's DISCIPLINE IN THE LATE REBELLION— SUCH CONVULSIONS, 
PREPARATORY SCHOOLS FOR STATESMEN — PROOFS OF GRANT'S 
CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ABILITIES, AND OF HIS CAPACITY A3 
A STATESMAN. 

The number of persons is small Indeed who will not con- 
cede that General Grant possesses military genius of the 
highest order. Steadily winning his way upward from a Col- 
onelcy to the command of a district, and thence to the con- 
trol of a department, and ultimately to the head of the entire 
forces of the nation, he directed the movements of more than ' 
a million of men, divided into many armies, and spread over 
an area larger than Western and Central Europe. In all 
branches of the service his companions In arms have, with 
one accord, conceded to him the highest place. 

After the capture of Corinth he was consulted by the 
War Department and the President in regard to all army 
movements In the Western States, and his plans were adopted 
with scarcely an exception. After the fall of VIcksburg his 
advice In respect to military operations throughout the coun- 
try was constantly sought at Washington, and his advice was 
influential till the close of the war. When the rebellion sue- 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 417 

cumbed, he alone prescribed the terms under which all the 
Confederate forces laid down their arms — terms, whose gen- 
erosity surprised the insurgents, and whose wisdom is vindi- 
cated by the fact that in the three years that have since 
intervened, and which have been characterized by great civil 
commotions in the unreconstructed States, not a rebel officer 
has lifted his sword, nor a rebel soldier resumed his musket. 

While so much will be freely admitted respecting his 
military genius and services, it is contended in some quarters 
that General Grant has given no evidence that he possesses 
statesman-like abilities. In reply to this it might be insisted 
that to accomplish the great objects we have enumerated, 
required something in addition to mere soldierly qualities, 
and that the tasks were of such a complex character that 
their successful performance demanded the talents of a states- 
man not less than those of a warrior. 

The advocates of the contrary theory will, in proof of their 
assertion, cite the fact that Grant has never held civil offices 
of trust and influence ; that he has never been a member of 
a legislative body, nor the Governor of a State, nor repre- 
sented his country at foreign courts, nor conducted diplomatic 
correspondence, nor been accustomed to address popular 
assemblies on public questions, nor even mingled in politics. 
All this must be admitted. Grant has never been an office- 
holder, nor an office-seeker, nor a partisan politician. He has 
issued orders for the government of millions of men through 
years of peculiar peril, but he has never delivered a speech 
in Congress, nor shone as a stump-orator. He has planned 
campaigns, proclaimed truces, received the capitulation of 
cities, and negotiated the terms of surrender of an armed 
Confederacy, but he has never waited in the presence cham- 
ber of Kings, nor wearied the patience of Ambassadors with 
vapid diplomatic dispatches. His genius has been invoked 
to save a Eepublic of forty millions of people in war, and his 
wisdom to reconstruct a shattered Union of thirty-seven 
States in peace, but he has never sent an annual message to 
a Legislature nor to the Common Council of a city. 



418 LTFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Those who would measure the extent of one's abilities as 
a statesman by the number of offices he has held, should 
remember that Washington, Franklin, Knox, Hamilton, Jack- 
son, Taylor and Lincoln had never had much official train- 
ing or experience of any sort in civil affairs, and especially 
in legislation, till they were called to discharge the highest 
civic trusts. Knox and Hamilton went almost directly from 
the camp into the Cabinet of Washington ; Lincoln had only 
served a single term in the lower branch of Congress when 
he was summoned to the Executive Mansion ; and Taylor 
cast his first vote at the polls at the election when he himself 
was a successful candidate for the Presidency. Though en- 
thusiastic parties rallied around Washington, Jay, Madison, 
Monroe, Wirt, Tompkins, Jackson, Calhoun and Taylor, and 
bore them into office, they were never, in the popular accep- 
tation of the term, politicians ; they never breathed the fetid 
air of the caucus ; they never addressed political meetings ; 
but their countrymen, testing their character and achievements 
by no such narrow standard, have ranked them among the 
great statesmen of their times. 

Now, we are not claiming that Grant is the equal of all 
these eminent civilians, but only citing their lives to show 
that it does not necessarily follow, that men do not possess 
statesman-like qualities, merely because they are not partisan 
politicians or have not been trained in a particular routine 
of civil employments. It would be thought flattery to assert 
that Grant is the peer of many of the distinguished characters 
just named ; but he is certainly entitled to a place in that 
class of public men of whom Franklin, Knox, Jackson, Taylor 
and Lincoln, were illustrious types. 

It hardly admits of a question that his education was 
better adapted to fit him for statesmanship, than that afforded 
by most of the higher grade of colleges in this country. 
The academy at West Point, not only thoroughly tests and 
trains the intellectual faculties, but its routine of studies 
embraces law In its application to the ruling of States, the 
history of nations, political economy, the-Federal Constitution 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 419 

and the general science of civil government. He passed the 
severe ordeal of the academy with great credit. Moreover, 
he possesses in large measure those native qualities and culti- 
vated habits, which enable one to supply deficiencies, result- 
ing from want of experience in the conduct of civil affairs. 
He has quickness of apprehension, breadth of comprehension, 
patient industry, persistency of purpose, self-reliance, and 
common sense ; and, better even than these, he has had a 
seven years' discipline in one of the greatest schools of modern 
times, wherein he has been constantly engaged in dealing with 
some of the most important and intricate concerns, political 
and military, ever entrusted to the care of a civiHan or a 
soldier. 

Grant entered this incomparable school on the firing of the 
signal-gun at Sumter. Through the earlier portion of these 
seven years, he was one of its most assiduous and apt scholars. 
For the remainder of the period, he was one of its ablest 
and most successful masters. He who regards him as a 
mere soldier in an era so crowded with civil, social, financial, 
and military events of the first magnitude, takes a narrow 
and one-sided view of the part he performed in this grand 
♦chapter of the world's history. 

It is the misfortune of distinguished military chieftains, 
that their achievements in the field so attract and dazzle the 
eye, that observers are wont to overlook their less brilliant 
but ofttimes equally valuable services in dealing with politi- 
cal subjects and matters of a quasi civil nature. Viewed in 
this aspect. Grant's position is not unlike that of Wellington, 
whom, it may be remarked, he somewhat resembles in the 
salient points of his character. The political aid rendered 
by Wellington to the cause of the allies during the five years 
he commanded in the Spanish Peninsula, was as important as 
his military campaigns. Though the British Cabinet knew 
that throughout these five years, much of his time and pa- 
tience were spent in healing the strife of political faction?, 
regulating the administration of justice, counseling with the 
feeble and impracticable Ministers of Portugal, and dictating 



420 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

a policy to the proud and implacable grandees of Spain, it 
was not till long afterwards that these facts became known to 
even his well informed fellow subjects, who had only recog- 
nized him on that theater of his exploits, as the hero of Vira- 
eira, Talavera and Vittoria, just as the masses of our citizens, 
not aware of Grant's civil services during the past five years, 
only know him as the conqueror at Donelson, Vicksburg, 
Chattanooga and the Appomattox. 

The like statement may be made respecting General Scott. 
His military record is all aglow with brilliant deeds. But 
his civil labors were hardly less important than these, though 
for years they were unknown to the great majority of his 
countrymen. Throughout his life he was a skillful negotia- 
tor, and apt at dealing with embarrassing public questions, 
more than once by his informal intervention averting the 
calamities of war. But Scott lived so long that his fellow- 
citizens became familiar with his good deeds as a pacificator, 
and they now revere his memory not less for these than for 
his more dazzling exploits in the field. 

In suggesting this comparison between Grant and the two 
distinguished soldiers just mentioned, it need hardly be added 
that the parallel does not run on all-fours ; for it would be 
absurd to imagine that in all particulars he was the counter- 
part of two men who but slightly resembled each other ; and 
as we have seen, as a soldier he is greatly superior to either. 
But there were points in the character of Wellington and Scott 
beside those already named, which bear a striking likeness 
to traits in the character of Grant. 

Like Wellington, Grant is reserved in manner and speech ; 
apt to give dry, curt answerg to those who would pry into 
his thoughts ; accustomed to state the conclusions at which 
he has arrived without detailing the mental processes through 
which he reached them ; thoroughly digesting plans in his 
own mind ere he announces them to others ; accurate in his 
estimate of character, so that in selecting his subordinates 
and coadjutors he intuitively puts " the right man in the 
right place ; " with a cool and impassive exterior, through 



LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 421 

which, however, there occasionally bursts a glowing phrase, 
hot from the heart, that becomes a talisman, like, " I shall 
fight it out on this line if it takes all summer," — an echo of 
the slogan at Waterloo, " Up guards, and at them !" 

Though Scott was one of the most vain and loquacious of 
men, and Grant is one of the most retiring and taciturn. 
Grant, like him, has rare tact in conducting difficult negotia- 
tions to a successful termination. It is universally conceded 
that Scott excelled in this respect. A striking illustration of 
Grant's skill therein was shown in the happy manner in 
which he disentangled the meshes wherein General Sherman 
had become involved in the terms of surrender he proposed 
to General Johnston in April, 1864. Destitute of accu- 
rate information, because of his isolation in the heart of the 
enemy's country, the terms he had tendered did not comport 
with the wishes of the Government. These terms were 
promptly disavowed and countermanded, by the civil author- 
ities at Washington. Deeming himself rudely treated, his 
pride was wounded, his warm blood was inflamed, and the 
hero of the " the grand march to the sea," was in a state of 
extreme irritation. In this unpleasant condition, Grait was 
despatched to North Carolina to settle the matter. After 
mutual explanations and a thorough survey of the field of 
controversy, the high-spirited victor promptly and heartily 
yielded to the views of his calm and modest commander. 
The friendship of Grant and Sherman, so dissimilar in every 
prominent trait of their characters — a friendship tested by 
rare vicissitudes of fortune, and growing stronger with every 
trial — is one of the most interesting facts of its kind which 
the war, so fruitful in striking incidents, has brought- forth. 

Eesuming the thread of our narrative, we shall find that 
during the last two years of the war, and more especially in 
the winter of 1863-64, no important civil measure bearing 
on the rebellion, was initiated by the Government without 
Grant's judgment thereon being invoked by the Cabinet; 
and the opinions of no one man, not actually in high political 
office, were more carefully considered or generally adopted, 



422 LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

than his. In the winter of 1864-5, when it became apparent 
that the rebellion was about to yield, and it was of vast im- 
portance that all our civil as well as military measures should 
be so shaped as to contribute to that result, his proximity to 
the seat of Government, made him a frequent participant in 
the Counsels of the Cabinet and in conferences with lead- 
ing members of Congress ; and his unimpassioned and saga- 
cious advice essentially aided in moulding a policy wherein 
energy and conciliation were wisely combined. 

In the three years that have transpired since the war ter- 
minated, Grant, as Commander-in-Chief, and for five months as 
Secretary of Wai', has been required to deal constantly with 
civil matters, of the most rare, complex, and delicate char- 
acter, deeply affecting not the South only, but the entire 
country. In the discharge of his high duties, he has never 
forgotten that he was a citizen as well as a soldier, and has 
wielded his vast powers rather as a civil magistrate, than as 
a military commander. The nature of these services is under- 
stood. Their extent and value can hardly be overestimated. 
The unimpeachable and enduring record of his acts bears 
testimpny to the zeal, urbanity, patience and ability with 
which he has executed his responsible trusts. 

In the face of these facts, can it be affirmed that General 
Grant has no statesman-like qualities ? Rather do they prove 
that he possesses a capacity for civil affairs which needs but 
the pressure of duty and the occurrence of opportunity to 
exhibit rare administrative abilities. 

It has been an axiom in American history, that to the 
training which Washington, Knox, and Hamilton, for exam- 
ple, received in the Revolutionary "War, and in the inter- 
vening period down to the adoption of the Federal Consti- 
tution, were mainly due those qualities that so admirably 
fitted them to discharge the duties which devolved upon 
them after the new Government went into full operation. 
And is it not safe to infer, nay, fair to insist, that long and 
thorough discipline in the events of our late war, and varied 
experience in handling those still pending and imsettled ques- 



LIFE OP ULYSSES S. GRANT. 423 

tions which have resulted therefrom, are quite as necessary 
to prepare a ruler for the wise administration of national 
affairs for a few years to come, as it was necessary in the 
analogous case of the revolutionary era, to train Washington 
and his compeers for the discharge of the political respon- 
sibilities ultimately imposed upon them ? 

Rather may we insist that such a training and discipline 
are more necessary for the public men of our times than they 
were for the Fathers of the Republic in their day. The con- 
test of 1776 was a war, pi-actically, between foreign nations, 
divided by the ocean. Ours was a civil conflict, between the 
citizens of one country. When the Revolutionary War 
closed, the defeated party retired to its home beyond the 
seas, leaving the whole body of our people to rejoice as vic- 
tors, homogeneous in feeling and united in opinion. But the 
beaten party in our late strife are Americans, dwelling side 
by side with their conquerors, the humiliation that followed 
their defeat being aggravated by the impoverishment and 
ruin that have resulted from their wild crusade. Through 
the term of the next National Administration the subjects that 
will press upon the public attention and demand solution and 
adjustment, spring directly out of, and in truth are part and 
parcel of the same subjects which, during the administrations 
of Lincoln and Johnson, have agitated the councils and 
shaped the destinies of the American people, whether dwell- 
ing in the North or in the South. 

During both of these administrations, the clear mind and 
strong hand of Grant have been employed in devising and 
executing the plans and measures that carried the nation 
through its perils in war, and have secured to iiPso much of 
peace and prosperity as it now enjoys. In view, then, of the 
present condition of the country, and of the peculiar charac- 
ter of the calamities that afflict it, and the dangers that beset it, 
and of the complexity and delicacy of the political and mili- 
tary problems that will demand solution in the immediate 
future, it cannot be doubted that the employments and expe- 
riences of Grant, through the seven years wherein these 



424 LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

grand events were passing across the stage of history, have 
more thoroughly prepared him for w^isely and safely guiding 
the nation, than could twenty years spent in the ordinary 
routine of civil offices of even the highest grades. 

Standing at the close of the eventful epoch we have been 
surveying, we need not hesitate to affirm, that to play the 
part in this great drama which Grant has performed, has 
required talents of a very different kind, if not of a higher 
grade, than those which produce the mere soldier, however 
illustrious. His enlightened counsels, the actual services he 
rendered in regard to civil, social, legal and financial matters 
of unprecedented character and transcendent importance, 
affecting the interests of large populations and the destinies 
of powerful States, prove that he possesses abilities and 
attainments that entitle him to a place among the wise and 
prudent statesmen of the country. 



Marshall's Line Engraved 

PORTRAIT OF GEN. GRANT. 



Messrs. Ticknor and Fields take pleasure in placing before the Ameri- 
can people this superb Engraving, which must be regarded as the only authen- 
tic and satisfactory portrait yet produced of General Grant. It is from the 
same hand that executed those portraits of Washington and Lincoln which 
have taken rank among the masterpieces of lineal art ; and it is confidently 
beUeved that this likeness is destined to become the historic portrait of Gen- 
eral Grant. 

The engraving has been made from Mr. Marshall's own painting. In the 
execution of tliis portrait, the artist had unusual facilities for becoming 
acquainted with his illustrious subject, and obtained numerous sittings. 
As a portrait of General Grant, it differs widely from all others ; but the pub- 
lishers believe that it is at once the best and the truest portrait of him ; and, 
as corroborating this opinion, they invite attention to the following testimo- 
nials from persons well qualified by acquaintance, taste and culture, to pro- 
nounce upon the merits of this engraving as a portrait, and as a work of art : 

[From Mrs. Grant. '\ 

Washington, Feb. 25, 1868. 
Mr. W. E. Marshall — Dear Sir: I am delighted with your splendid engraving of my 
husband. I cannot say too much in its praise. As a likeness 1 do not think it could be better, 
and I shall always prize your elegant gift. Yours truly, JULIA D. GRANT. 

[From Hon. E. B. IVashhir-ne, 0/ III., the mtimate friend 0/ General Gratii.] 

Washington, D. C, Feb. 3, 1868. 
Messrs. Ticknor & Fields — Gentlemen: It has afforded me great pleasure to see and ex- 
amine an artist-proof of Marshall's Line Engraving of General U. S. Grant. In the execu- 
tion of the work, art seems to have achieved its highest triumph. The likeness is m.ost perfect, 
and the wonderful skill displayed by the artist must excite the warmest admiration of all lovers 
of art. Very truly, yours &c., E. B. WASHBURNE. 

[Fro7n Senator Sumner.] 

Senate Chamber, Feb. 18, i868. 

Gentlemen — Lincoln and Grant were associated in a great crisis of history. They are again 
associated in the immortality of art. The same talent which so successfully engraved the por- 
trait of the former, now gives us a companion portrait of the other. I have always adrnired 
Marshall's engraving of our late President, and now have, among my rnost valued possessions, 
the first proof of the plate. The engraving of the Commander of our armies is not less admirable. 
It is a rare and finished work, excellent as a likeness, and altogether worthy of a place in any 
collection, or on the walls of any house. Faithfully yours, 

Messrs. Ticknor & Fields. CHARLES SUMNER. 

[From Mr. Curtis.} 
North Shore, Staten Island, N. Y., April 3, 1868. 
Mv Dear Sir :— I thank vou most heartily for the noble and satisfactory portrait of General 
Grant. The same force and fidelity, the same exquisite skill and delicacy which you have made 
us all admire in your Washington and Lincoln, are renewed in this masterly work. ^ It shows all 
that simplicity, tenacity, sagacity, modesty and moderation, which explain Grant's career, and 
commend him so closely to the regard and respect of his countrymen. We are all your debtors 

'^MH. MaLTalT' "^"''' ''°"'' °W'S^^"*-'i^™5E WILLIAM CURTIS. 

[From Mr. Bryant.] 

New York, March 26, 1868. 
Messrs. Ticknor & Tmvns— Dear Sirs :—\ am entirely satisfied with the portrait of 
General Grant, engraved by W. E. Marshall, from a portrait painted by himself. It is really a 
noble specimen of the art engraving. It is admirable as a likeness, and appears to me to give 
the character of the original, more perfectly than any engraving which I have seen. 

I am, Sirs, very truly yours, W. C. BKVAJN 1. 



5^= This Engraving will be sold by subscription only. Agents are wanted to canvass every 
town of the United States. For terms and territory immediate application should be made. 
Address, for the New England States, TICKNOR & FIELDS. Boston 
For the Middle and Southern States, Ohio and Michigan, 1 1CKNOR & FIELDS, No. 63 

^ Fofthe^WeJtem'states^except Ohio and Michigan, JOHN H. AMMON Western News 
Company, Chicago. 



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JUST PUBLISHED : 

Life of Ulysses S. G-rant, 

THE CONQUEROR OF THE REBELLION AND GENERAL OF THE 
UNITED STATES ARMY, 

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Containing Splendid Portrait of Grant, and numerous Maps and Diagrams. 



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This work will be published m the German language as well as in the English. 

THE ILLUSTRATED 

LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 



VIVID PEN-PAINTINGS OF BATTLES AND INCIDENTS, TRIALS 
AND TRIUMPHS OF THE HEROES AND SOLDIERS OF 
7 ft REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. 

By H(^! J. T. HEADLEY, 

Author of "Washington and his Generals," "Napoleon and his Marshals," "Sacred 
Mountains," Ac. 

TOGETHER WITH AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OP 

-^-^MOUJVT runjvojy as it is, 

By BENSON J. LOSSING. 

The whole embellished with numerous Steel and "Wood Engravings, and a 

splendid Colored Lithographic View of Mount Vernon 

and "Washington's Tomb. 

This beautiful Royal Octavo volume of over 500 pages embraces a brilliant narration 
of the facts and incidents in the life of that remarkable man. and Father of his Coun- 
try — George Washington : tosether with his connection with the Revolutionary War, &c. 
Comprising much new and important information, derived from the papers of General 
Putnam, and the researches of Mr. Lossing, — information embraced in no other book. 

When every heart throbs with enthusiastic gratitude, and public feeling is thoroughly 
aroused towards the memory of Washington, a biography from the pen of Mr. Headley, 
of that great and good man", is of peculiar interest, and would necessarily be in great 
demand. Already thousands of copies have been sold, and the demand is every day 
increasing, as the success of our agents abundantly prove. 






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